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BE LIKE GRETA THUNBERG  
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Angelina Giannopoulou
June 4, 2025
Transform!Europe
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_ “If you, as a climate activist, don’t also fight for a free
Palestine and an end to colonialism and oppression all over the world,
then you should not be able to call yourself a climate activist“ _

Greta Thunberg at a protest in front of the UN office (COP-29),
Yerevan, Armenia (December 2024), photo Credits: Voice of America via
Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain.hoto Credits: Voice of America via
Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain.

 

It’s been six years since that white, middle-class teenage girl with
autism stood before world leaders at the UN Climate Summit and
exclaimed indignantly “How dare you!
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an object of ridicule—not only from climate change deniers and
conservative politicians, but also from parts of the anti-capitalist
left. To them, the so-called awkward blonde girl with the pigtails was
a greenwashing tool for corporate capitalism, with suspiciously easy
access to global media platforms and multinational organisations.

By now, you’d think that many of her critics—on both ends of the
political spectrum—might have offered an apology. After all, Greta
was simply a young girl moved to action by the greatest threat facing
our planet—one that her generation will be forced to pay for dearly.
And what’s been proven over these six years? That she was never a
puppet of capital, never a distraction from the real struggle, never a
spokesperson for green neoliberalism.

In fact, the more Greta developed a sophisticated critique of the
global economic and political order, the more she disappeared from
mainstream media—despite her enduring influence on European social
movements and her persistent political interventions. Meanwhile, much
of the left failed to conduct even the slightest self-criticism of how
it misread and mistreated the “Greta phenomenon.” It simply
couldn’t stomach the idea that a privileged, white Swedish girl
could be truly anti-capitalist, capable of intersectionally linking
contemporary struggles, without being politically “baptised” in
the ways _we_ were.

And yet, Greta stands as a defining figure in the political awakening
and radicalisation of today’s youth. This generation isn’t waiting
for mass parties or traditional movements to lead the way. They take
to the streets, invent their own repertoires of action (see _Fridays
for Future_), maximise digital tools and connectivity, and articulate
a holistic anti-capitalist discourse that ties together the climate
crisis, social inequality, neo-colonialism, and racism. No one has to
sit them down and explain that it’s all connected—they already
know.

That’s why it came as no surprise to many of us when Greta stood in
solidarity with Palestine. Her words
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_“If you, as a climate activist, don’t also fight for a free
Palestine and an end to colonialism and oppression all over the world,
then you should not be able to call yourself a climate activist_“

—echo the ethical clarity of a generation that refuses to be
neutral. In the defining moral confrontation of our time, young people
like Greta are choosing sides, and doing so in the most radical way
they can. Some sail to Gaza with humanitarian aid. Others wave
Palestinian flags at their Harvard graduation. A few shout “Free
Palestine” in keffiyehs after winning a boxing match.

But the defamation of those who stand with the Palestinian people has
reached disturbing levels. The global alt-right propaganda machine,
now deeply embedded in the most popular social media platforms, works
overtime to spread fake news, discredit activists, obscure the wave of
international solidarity, and sow confusion. Just yesterday, a crudely
doctored photo made the rounds: Greta supposedly holding an Aperol
Spritz aboard the humanitarian aid ship. It spread like wildfire among
the same people who mocked the “spoiled autistic teen” back in
2019—and yes, even some segments of the Left, ever eager to feel
validated in their mistrust of “Green Greta,” shared it too.

But the real tragedy isn’t just how easily people fall for
AI-generated lies and disinformation. It’s how intolerable it’s
become to accept that some young people still dare to act
spontaneously, genuinely, politically disrupting the apathy and
cynicism that so many have grown comfortable with.

In a time when ressentiment seems to be the dominant political emotion
in our societies, people who care about more than their own skin
become a source of irritation. Not just for the powerful—but for the
powerless, too. For those who can no longer even lift their eyes to
the sky, let alone question, demand, or become like Greta. In a world
consumed by ressentiment, choose to be like Greta.

_[See our publication on the role of emotions in politics, including a
discussion on the concept of ressentiment: “Feel the Change You
Want to See”: The Role of Emotions in Politics
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN GREEK IN EPOHI NEWSPAPER
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_Angelina Giannopoulou is an Athens-based political scientist and
facilitator of the “European Integration and the Strategic
Perspectives of the Radical Left” programme at transform! europe.
She holds master’s degrees in political sociology and religious
studies and is a PhD candidate in political science at Sophia
University Institute in Florence. She is also a member of the
Coordination Team of the Dialop Project for the Christian-Marxist
Dialogue._

_transform!europe is a network of 38 European organisations from 22
countries, active in the field of political education and critical
scientific analysis, and is the recognised political foundation
corresponding to the Party of the European Left (EL). This cooperative
project of independent non-profit organisations, institutes,
foundations, and individuals intends to use its work in contributing
to peaceful relations among peoples and a transformation of the
present world._

* Climate Change
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* Gaza
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* colonialism
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