Greta Thunberg is back in the news after months: along with more than 40 protesters, she took part in a protest in front of the Rheinmetall building in Berlin, to express her disagreement with the company’s plans to build a factory in the city. The protesters claimed that the planned facilities would produce weapons intended to be used against Palestine and Lebanon.
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Initially, about 70 police officers were deployed to monitor the gathering, and the prominent Swedish activist was detained by German police on Monday. This, after joining a protest organized by the group “Peacefully Against Genocide.” During the demonstration, Thunberg emphasized the urgency of the cause and stated: “We have a duty to end our complicity in genocide and mass killings.”
“Stop the new Rheinmetall factory and stop sending weapons to Israel. Stop the genocide,” Thunberg added. The police of the German capital intervened during the protest and detained Thunberg, as shown in the footage.
Part of the group of protesters glued their hands to the ground near the Brandenburg Gate to protest against German arms exports. They also carried a banner with the slogan: “No profit from genocide.”
A total of 11 people were briefly held in police custody on Monday. The group announced on its website a week of protests in Berlin, scheduled to last until Wednesday.
“Rheinmetall systematically supports genocide,” says Laila Fuisz, spokesperson for the group “Peacefully Against Genocide.” She accuses Rheinmetall of supplying weapons to Israel: “We wanted to block the office because there are people there who make decisions daily to continue supporting the killing of people,” Fuisz added.
This movement has already been making news in Germany for a couple of months. On April 10, the activists blocked the entrances of a Rheinmetall facility in Berlin in protest of the role of this German defense company in supplying weapons to Israel.
Very similar to what happened this Monday, members of the group sat in front of the facility’s gates, located in the Wedding district, and glued their hands to the pavement. They chanted slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine,” “Stop the genocide,” and “Israel bombs, Germany finances.”
A protester, Hannes Sommerkamp, stated on social media that the action aimed at the production of weapons linked to civilian victims. “While we are sitting here, Israel continues killing people in Gaza, in the West Bank, and throughout Palestine. Israel is attacking Lebanon and Iran, killing people daily,” he said: “And here in Berlin, right in the Wedding district, weapons are going to be manufactured that are used to kill these people. Rheinmetall supplies the Israeli Army and, with that, enables the ongoing genocide in the Middle East. The killing of people starts here, right in the center of Berlin.”
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Rheinmetall is one of Germany’s largest defense contractors and manufactures military vehicles, weapon systems, and ammunition. The company has significantly increased its production in recent years due to the growing global demand for defense equipment.
For a few years now, Greta Thunberg has been involved in activism against the situation in Palestine. The Swedish climate activist was arrested on December 23 in London during a demonstration in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, according to statements from the organizations Defend Our Juries and Prisoners for Palestine.
“Greta Thunberg was carrying a sign that said: ‘I support the prisoners of Palestine Action. I oppose genocide,’” said a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, adding that the activist had been “arrested under British anti-terrorism legislation.” London police, for their part, indicated that they had arrested a “22-year-old woman for carrying an item in support of a banned organization (in this case, Palestine Action),” without specifying her name. She was later released on bail, as announced hours later.
This demonstration was held in solidarity with eight Palestine Action hunger strikers, who were included on the UK’s list of “terrorist” organizations in early July following acts of vandalism.
These activists, aged between 20 and 31, are currently imprisoned awaiting trial for carrying out actions on behalf of the group. Huda Ammori, co-founder of the group, has filed a legal challenge against its ban, which has been criticized by human rights NGOs, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
During this year, the activist had also participated in other fronts and had supported an international humanitarian aid convoy that headed to Cuba. The country, which is going through a severe economic crisis exacerbated by the energy blockade imposed by Washington, received the convoy in Havana on March 21.
“In response to the immense worldwide show of solidarity with Cuba, the initial idea of the Flotilla has transformed into a convoy coordinated by air, land, and sea, which will converge in Havana on March 21,” the organizers said in a press release sent to AFP.
Organized by “an international coalition of movements, trade unionists, parliamentarians, humanitarian organizations, and public figures,” the convoy “Our America” delivered “food, medicine, medical supplies, and essential goods” to the island, they added.
