The German climate activist Luisa Neubauer (27) has criticized the stance of “Fridays for Future International” on the Middle East war. With a view to controversial postings by founder Greta Thunberg (20), Neubauer told the “Zeitmagazin” on Monday: “The fact that Greta Thunberg has not yet said anything concrete about the Jewish victims of the massacre on October 7th disappoints me.” In the past she has experienced the Swede as “extraordinarily reflective and far-sighted”. The experiences of the past few days are all the more painful.

Anti-Semitism allegations against Thunberg – Neubauer: “I didn’t see it coming”

The background to the criticism is recent posts on the Instagram account of the international Fridays for Future movement. There was talk of a “genocide” against Palestinians and an “apartheid system” in Israel. Western media were also accused of “brainwashing” to get people to side with Israel. Thunberg also shared a photo on her Instagram profile that showed her holding a sign that read “Stand with Gaza.” Several voices accused Thunberg and her movement of anti-Semitism. The German branch of Fridays for Future distanced itself.

“It’s obvious that a lot of things are falling apart,” said Neubauer. She emphasized: “If I could have foreseen that such statements would be shared on the international Fridays for Future account, without consultation, without fact checking, then we would have positioned ourselves more clearly in advance. It is obvious that there are different opinions when it comes to Israel and Palestine. “But that does not justify anti-Semitism or disinformation. And the fact that it exists surprised me. I didn’t see that coming,” admitted the prominent climate activist.

Changing the name of the movement is not the solution for Neubauer

The German Fridays for Future activists now have to clarify “with whom we can still find a working basis based on shared values, and where that could be.” In Neubauer’s opinion, a name change is not a suitable solution to the problem. She also thinks it would be wrong to focus only on Germany now. The climate crisis is ultimately global.