Israeli Hostage’s Sister Criticizes Thunberg for Alleged Propaganda

Israeli Hostage’s Sister Condemns Greta Thunberg for Misusing Captive’s Image

The sister of Israeli hostage Evyatar David has publicly rebuked Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg for inappropriately using a photo of her emaciated brother in social media content criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

Thunberg, recently deported from Israel along with hundreds of other activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, shared a graphic on Instagram that featured images of Palestinians allegedly mistreated in Israeli detention. Among these images was a photo of David, who was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack at the Nova Music Festival.

The image, taken from a Hamas propaganda video, showed a severely malnourished David inside a tunnel, digging what he believed would be his grave. The graphic has since been edited to remove David’s photo following backlash.

Yeela David, the hostage’s sister, confronted Thunberg in the comments section, writing: “You need to do research before posting things you don’t understand about. This man is an Israeli hostage that [H]amas starved on purpose.” She added, “Every minute you are not deleting the post, you are becoming a bigger joke. [E]mbarrassing.”

The controversial post, a collaboration between Thunberg, Yasemin Acar, and several other social media accounts, claimed that Palestinian detainees “have been taken from their homes, held in brutal conditions, tortured, silenced, and forgotten by the world that claims to care about human rights.” Acar serves on the steering committee of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and helped organize the Global Sumud Flotilla, which states its mission as “breaking the Israeli siege on Gaza.”

The graphic also featured Ahmad Manasra, describing him as “just a child, confused and scared, facing adults who treat him like an enemy instead of a boy in pain.” However, court records show Manasra was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a 2015 stabbing attack that critically injured two Israelis, including a 13-year-old boy.

According to The New York Times reporting from 2016, Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin armed themselves with knives before attacking victims in East Jerusalem. The young victim, Naor Ben-Ezra, required lifesaving treatment after being stabbed four times, while the adult victim suffered severe lung and liver damage.

On Monday, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 171 flotilla activists, including Thunberg, had been deported to Greece and Slovakia. The ministry characterized the flotilla as “nothing more than a publicity stunt,” stating that “all the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld.”

Israeli officials disputed claims of mistreatment, noting that the only violent incident involved an activist allegedly biting a medical worker during a routine check-up at Ketziot Prison. The ministry also highlighted that despite claims of delivering humanitarian aid, the flotilla carried only about 2 tons of supplies across more than 40 vessels – in stark contrast to the approximately 300 trucks carrying 20 tons of aid that Israel reportedly facilitates into Gaza daily with international organizations.

The incident underscores the ongoing information war surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict, with both sides accusing each other of spreading misinformation. For Thunberg, whose activism has primarily focused on climate issues, this controversy represents a significant misstep in her recent advocacy regarding the Gaza conflict.

Neither Thunberg nor representatives from the Global Sumud Flotilla responded to requests for comment on the incident, which has drawn attention to the challenges of verifying information in conflict zones and the potential consequences of sharing unvetted content on social media platforms.