Earth Science News
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Climate group's Israel-Hamas posts cause German uproar
Climate group's Israel-Hamas posts cause German uproar
by AFP Staff Writers
Berlin (AFP) Oct 27, 2023

Fridays for Future's German branch was under growing pressure on Friday to cut ties with the international climate movement over controversial social media posts about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In an interview with Bild daily, Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, urged the German group to consider a "real disassociation, a change of name and the breaking off of all contacts" with the parent organisation.

Schuster accused the movement started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg of a "crude distortion of history, demonisation of Israel and now also conspiracy ideology".

Fridays for Future on Wednesday shared a post on Instagram accusing western media of "brainwashing" people into backing Israel in the Middle East conflict.

Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says the strikes have now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children.

The Fridays for Future post alleged that western media outlets are "funded by imperialist governments who stand with Israel".

It also accused the media of concealing the fact that the latest attacks by Hamas are "rooted in the past 75 years of oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians", which it described as a "genocide".

The post did not mention Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, in which people were shot, burned and mutilated to death.

The German branch on Thursday posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, stating that "the international account -- as previously emphasised -- does not speak for us".

The group has previously declared its solidarity with Israel as well as voicing support for civilians in Gaza amid Israel's massive bombing campaign.

It has also stated that it rejects all forms of anti-Semitism.

But the TAZ daily said the German group needed to "ask itself whether it can really show solidarity with Jews as an offshoot of a movement that is repeatedly conspicuous for its anti-Semitism".

Fridays for Future has been criticised over several controversial social media posts in the wake of the latest escalation in the Middle East.

On October 20, Thunberg shared a photo showing herself and three other activists holding signs in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The picture featured a blue octopus stuffed animal, which critics said was a reference to an anti-Semitic symbol found in early 20th-century political cartoons.

ilp-fec/sea/trc/giv

X

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
CLIMATE SCIENCE
COP 'cooling pledge' vows 68 percent emissions cut by 2050
Bangkok (AFP) Oct 27, 2023
A "cooling pledge" to be unveiled at next month's COP28 climate summit will commit countries to slash cooling-related emissions 68 percent by 2050, according to a draft text seen by AFP on Friday. But it remains unclear which countries will sign up to the pledge, and whether heavyweights such as China and India, where demand for air conditioning is growing fast, will participate. Cooling methods currently account for over seven percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United ... read more

CLIMATE SCIENCE
As Otis toll climbs, Mexicans criticize government response

Four Japan nuclear plant workers splashed with tainted water

U.N. urges opening of 2nd border crossing into Gaza as need for aid grows

North China Electric Power University's innovative solutions for Fukushima radioactive water crisis

CLIMATE SCIENCE
The tech to recycle clothes is only just being invented

Shape-shifting fiber can produce morphing fabrics

Space rocks and asteroid dust are pricey, but these aren't the most expensive materials used in science

WVU research advances 3D printing applications in microgravity for sustainable space missions

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Search on for Australian surfer's body after shark attack

Storms swell Iguazu falls to near decade-high flow

Ocean warming is accelerating, with hotspots taking the brunt

Humans are disrupting natural 'salt cycle' on a global scale, new study shows

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Increased West Antarctic ice sheet melting 'unavoidable'

Light, freshwater sticks to Greenland's east coast

Despite record low ice, nations again fail to agree Antarctic reserves

Meltwater flowing beneath Antarctic glaciers may be accelerating their retreat

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Bjork, Rosalia team up against Iceland fish farms

Adding crushed rock to farmland pulls carbon out of the air

Producing more food and storing more carbon

Drought and shrinking herds push US beef prices through the roof

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Company guilty over New Zealand volcano disaster

Flooding, heavy rain kill three in Vietnam

Central America braces for Tropical Storm Pilar

Armed residents guard streets in Mexico's hurricane-hit Acapulco

CLIMATE SCIENCE
One year on, peace holds in Tigray but Ethiopia still fractured

Divisive legacy of a British army base in Kenya

Sudan peace talks resume in Jeddah with limited goals

PM Abiy says Ethiopia will 'not pursue interests through war'

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Eternal rest -- at the foot of a tree

Iraq dig unearths 2,700-year-old winged sculpture largely intact

Hope, heartbreak after Hong Kong court decision on LGBTQ partnerships

Indigenous Australians denounce 'shameful' referendum result

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.