Swedish activist Greta Thunberg spoke publicly Monday for the first time after being released from an Israeli prison, where she was reportedly beaten and forced to kiss the Israeli flag.
Thunberg was among 171 people deported by Israeli authorities after being detained for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. The group was flown to Greece and Slovakia following their release.
There were cheers as Thunberg and other activists arrived in Greece, greeted by supporters after their ordeal.
Thunberg spoke at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens, emphasizing that her personal experience was not what mattered most.
“I can talk for a very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me,” she said.
“But that is not the story. Let me be very clear: there is a genocide going on in front of our very eyes, a live-streamed genocide,” Thunberg said.
“No one has the privilege to say we are not aware of what's happening. No one in the future will be able to say we did not know.”
Thunberg accused Israel of “continuing to worsen and escalate their genocide and mass destruction with genocide of intent, attempting to erase an entire population, an entire nation in front of you.”
“We cannot take our eyes away from Gaza, from all the places of the world that are suffering, living on the forefront of this business-as-usual system: Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Gaza and many, many more,” she added. “What we are doing is the bare minimum.
"I will never comprehend how humans can be so evil. That you would deliberately starve millions of people living trapped under an illegal siege as a continuation of decades of oppression and apartheid."
In a video posted on her Instagram account, Thunberg said the Global Sumud Flotilla is a demonstration of "international solidarity" with the Palestinians.
Israel violated international law by impeding the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, she said, adding “our imprisonment by Israel is a direct result of our governments."
"States have a legal obligation to end their complicity in genocide, which the UN commissioner now also confirmed it is," she highlighted, emphasizing that Israel has "no impunity" from the genocide.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, en route to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, approached Gaza waters on the evening of Oct 1.
The Israeli army attacked the flotilla, illegally seizing dozens of boats and ships and detaining hundreds of their passengers.
It was the largest flotilla to ever set out collectively to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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