A man momentarily interrupted Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg at a climate rally in Amsterdam, video posted Sunday shows.
“We have not been listening; the people in power have not been listening … ” Thunberg said, just as a man in a green jacket walked towards her and seized the microphone, the video clip, shared by Nexta, showed.
“I’ve come here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” the man said, eliciting groans from the audience and remonstrations from the demonstrators standing behind Thunberg.
Thunberg eventually wrested the microphone from the man in a brief struggle as other attendees — two of whom sported keffiyehs — escorted the man off the stage, per the video. Thunberg was heard repeatedly saying, “Calm down,” while following the man as he was being escorted.
Thunberg, also wearing a keffiyeh, then retook the stage and joined the chant, “No climate justice on occupied land,” as some demonstrators behind her raised their fists.
NEW – Greta Thunberg: “No climate justice on occupied land.”pic.twitter.com/SjXTt1lgBP
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 12, 2023
Sunday’s incident occurred in the Netherlands, to which the rally had drawn tens of thousands of attendees, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Two women, a Palestinian and an Afghan, had just finished speaking at Thunberg’s invitation when the man appeared, stepping onto the stage. (RELATED: Greta Thunberg Weighs In On The Israel-Hamas War)
Thunberg and other demonstrators, claimed to number 70,000, later marched through the streets of the Dutch capital city, the AP noted. The protest comes ten days before the general election in the Netherlands, with tackling climate change being a key policy issue for the political parties.
Greta Thunberg in Amsterdam: “A-Anti-Anticapitalista!” So not about climate? pic.twitter.com/eGVdRce3RT
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) November 12, 2023
Thunberg could be seen in one of the video clips of the march through Amsterdam‘s streets chanting alongside the crowd, “A-Anti-Anticapitalista!”
Some political leaders, including former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, later addressed the crowd in a square behind the landmark Rijksmuseum, AP noted.
Timmermans reportedly leads the two-party Labour and Green Left alliance going into the Nov. 22 polls, per Politico.