Afrasianet - Dr. Hani Al-Akkad - Greta Thunberg is a Swedish activist who, at the age of 22, possesses a unique mindset, despite suffering from Asperger syndrome, a type of autism spectrum disorder.

This did not constitute a disability for her; on the contrary, it motivated her to excel over her peers and become an influential figure in the world. She was active in numerous forums during her childhood and adolescence, which preoccupy many people with issues other than global issues. However, Greta was one of the first to take an interest in issues that represent global issues of great international interest.

During her youth, she participated in protests to prevent global warming and climate change, and participated in strikes organized by students in many schools in Sweden in front of the Swedish Parliament. From there, her career took off, as she participated in a United Nations conference on climate change and in 2019, she participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In the same year, the American magazine Time magazine chose her as the Person of the Year for 2018, which had a significant impact on the beginning of a major transformation in the course of this extraordinary activist’s life, and she became a role model for millions of children around the world.

She spoke about the suffering of the Palestinian people during the war on Gaza on more than one occasion, addressing peoples and nations and stirring their consciences, which prompted millions to go out in marches to support Palestinian rights, demanding, with a collective voice, an end to the war of extermination and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians in Gaza.

She directly demanded, more than once, through her leadership of these demonstrations in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, that governments sever their government's relations with Israel. She also demanded an end to arms exports to Israel, as it is a state that does not care about human lives in Gaza, killing, destroying, starving, and depriving thousands of children of the right to life and treatment after destroying many hospitals in the Gaza Strip with systematic planning, in addition to arresting many doctors and nurses, accusing them of collaborating with terrorists.

Greta Thunberg has been concerned with global issues since she was a child. She believed that increased carbon emissions from factories and the various materials used by countries threaten the life of humanity. She repeatedly emphasized four important points in her message: that humanity is facing an existential crisis due to climate change, that the current generation of young people is responsible for climate change, that climate change will have a disproportionate impact on young people, and that young people are doing little to address these problems.

She declared that politicians and decision-makers must listen to scientists. Greta Thunberg has been concerned with issues that are actually beyond her years, and this shows that her mental age is much greater than her chronological age. She published a letter from the age of eighteen, including the four principles of her concern.

First, the world’s commitment to 1.5 degrees Celsius as part of the Paris Agreement is not enough. Second, the curve of greenhouse gas emissions must begin to decline sharply after 2020. She called on the European Union to work on implementing climate plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2030.

This unusual girl in her personality, thought and interests made her a person with her own thought and universal and humanitarian interests. She did not stop at this, but she was a woman of genius and creativity. She was interested in writing in newspapers about climate issues and won the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper competition by writing her most famous article about climate for the youth category.

She won many awards after that, despite her young age, in the areas of sustainable development and climate issues. In 2019, she was classified by the American Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential teenagers in the world for the year 2018.

The truth is that she achieved great influence in the world, despite her young age, and she impressed many of them, including presidents, thinkers and intellectuals. She advanced over politicians with her political interests and became a large community and had a presence in all humanitarian issues in the world, the most important of which is the issue of the war of extermination in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinian children.

One of her most powerful words was when she returned from detention after the occupation army arrested her in the territorial waters off the Gaza Sea and prevented her and prevented The Steadfastness Flotilla is delivering aid and breaking the siege on Gaza. “People in Gaza are dying and suffering, and there is a clear genocide taking place before our eyes. We are witnessing direct genocide in Gaza, and no one in the future can say they did not know what was happening. According to international law, states have legal duties to take action to prevent and stop genocide.

This means ending collusion, applying real pressure, and ending the flow of weapons. But we do not see any of these things, and we do not see the least of what is required from our governments.” She added that the international system is now betraying the Palestinians, and not even the worst war crimes can be prevented from happening. She said, “I will never understand how the scene could be this evil, deliberately starving millions of people who live under an illegal siege as a continuation of decades and decades of suffering, killing, oppression, apartheid, and occupation.

What we aim to do in the Steadfastness Flotilla is to raise the voice of our governments that are not fulfilling their duties. The government talks about ensuring human rights and bringing aid into Gaza, but it fails to fulfill its duties, and at the very least, it fails.” “In ensuring the safety of this mission,” she said, defending the idea and goal of the Steadfastness Flotilla, saying it was the largest attempt to break the illegal and inhumane blockade by sea. “It is a story of international solidarity. These people made a decision when governments failed.

These people said that our leaders who represent us refuse to stop this genocide. They do not represent me,” she said. “This is the last resort for the Steadfastness Flotilla mission to head to Gaza,” she added. “This is a shame,” she said. “I and my comrades did not want to send aid to Gaza, but rather to end the blockade, the occupation, and the oppression.” She considered that “this activity represents a challenge to my narrative, and I cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening in Gaza.” She said, “There is suffering in many places in the world, in Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Gaza, and other countries in the world.” She emphasized that what she is doing is the least that can be done, and she said, “Our responsibility lies in ending this complicity of our governments, many companies, and the media.” When the Israeli Navy arrested her on board the Steadfastness Flotilla heading to Gaza, Greta Thunberg was subjected to torture and cruel and humiliating treatment.

The soldiers forced her to crawl on the ground and kiss the Israeli flag while she was detained with the Global Steadfastness crew. She was accused of arriving in Israel illegally, but she defended herself and said that she did not come to Israel, but rather came to Gaza to deliver aid, milk, food and medicine to the children of Gaza.

Greta Thunberg had planned to participate in the Freedom Flotilla last May, but those plans were canceled after one of the flotilla's ships was attacked by a drone in territorial waters off the coast of Malta. In June 2025, she participated in a new aid mission to Gaza aboard the Madeleine, which was seized by the Israeli military and towed to the port of Ashdod, as usual. Her family was arrested, and Greta was among those subjected to harsh interrogation. She was subsequently deported, while her companions remained. In an interview, Thunberg said it was "a bit unclear" why she was released while the others remained detained.

She explained that she and some others signed a document stating that they wished to leave Israel as soon as possible, while also emphasizing that they did not enter the country illegally.

Through her attempts to reach Gaza, and through her leadership of many demonstrations around the world, and through her passionate messages to peoples and governments, and through her many ongoing activities to defend those suffering in Gaza from killing, hunger, and genocide, Greta Thunberg shook the conscience of the world and believed that the movement of peoples has become a duty to stop this barbaric war.

Greta’s activity may have a great impact, in addition to the thousands of activists who participated in lifting death from the necks of Palestinians and formed a state of international public opinion rejecting this war, which created an unprecedented state of international popular pressure on governments that increased every day and extended to other sectors of societies.

I believe that the resort of governments of many countries in the world, including France, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Britain, Senegal, and Canada, to recognize the Palestinian state is one of the results of this great international movement.

I believe that President Trump’s haste to exploit the presence of Arab and Islamic countries in the United Nations General Assembly meeting and to meet with them to discuss a plan to end the war on Gaza was to save America's reputation and to avoid further pressure from international public opinion, which was aimed at improving America's image, which was shaken by its absolute support for Israel in its war on the Palestinians in Gaza.

Greta Thunberg remains one of the most prominent activists in the world, working to shape international public opinion and pressure it, which pushed Israeli leaders and the Trump administration to stop this war and completely end it in Gaza, and to claim that the next step is to achieve real peace in the Middle East. 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.