What I Would Say to Greta Thunberg

I don’t struggle with what I’d like to say to Greta Thunberg — that part is clear. What I struggle with is giving attention to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Acknowledging her ridiculous PR stunt only gives her exactly what she wants. Still, I’ve chosen to write this in the hope that it reaches someone who might believe her absolute nonsense.

While October 7, 2023, may seem like ages ago, it lives in the recent memory of many of us. I was not there. I did not personally know anyone who was. But since it happened, it has lived in my head, embedding deep sadness and fear that is easily stirred up.

Every time I see footage from that horrific day, I am reminded of how easily the world forgets and the short-term memory we all have. So much so, that Greta’s boat, carrying barely any aid, garners more attention than the memory of a 9-month-old baby murdered by a Palestinian’s bare hands; the slaughter of entire families; the decapitation of infants; the gang rape of girls; or the cold-blooded execution of young Israelis who were celebrating life.

That is what we must remember. Israel did not suddenly decide to launch a war in Gaza. Israel responded in self defense after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, something that Hamas promised to repeat “over and over” until Israel was destroyed.

Greta and her mindless entourage sailed off to save Gazans — but she should be saving them from Hamas, and the overwhelming majority of Palestinians who supported the Oct. 7 massacre, and therefore supported the action that brought about this current war.

Furthermore, Greta has it terribly wrong. Aid is going in — it’s the terrorists who are stealing it. Israel isn’t targeting innocent civilians — the terrorists are using them as human shields. Israel doesn’t want this war, but it has been forced into it. Just one video from the darkest day in Israel’s history makes clear why this fight is not only justified, but necessary for the Jewish State’s survival.

I truly hope that Greta watches even a glimpse of that footage — much of it filmed by the perpetrators themselves — and feels even a fraction of the shame that she should. She is directly responsible for helping the world forget the victims, the atrocities that took place, and the very reason this war exists.

I don’t dislike Greta because she sailed off with her friends on a boat. I dislike her because she’s made this about herself, usurped the conversation, and diminished the memory of what happened on that Saturday in 2023, a day that changed every single Jewish life forever.

This conflict has become a stage for even comedians to voice uninformed opinions, without watching a single video from that day or cracking open a history book. Greta is no better than those who deny what the Jewish people and Israel have been through. And so, after this, it’s only fitting to regard her as we do them: completely and utterly irrelevant.

The author is the writer and reporter behind @lets.talk.conflict on Instagram, and Growth Officer at The Algemeiner.

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