Quick Hit:

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested by Danish police during a pro-Palestine protest in Copenhagen. The demonstration, organized by Students Against The Occupation, called for an academic boycott of Israel.

Key Details:

• Thunberg and five others were arrested during a 20-student protest at the University of Copenhagen, demanding a boycott of Israeli universities.
• Thunberg has been an outspoken critic of Israel, labeling the conflict as “genocide” and expressing a desire to “crush Zionism.”
• Danish police charged six individuals with breach of domestic peace; all were released shortly after.

Diving Deeper:

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg was detained by Danish police in Copenhagen on Wednesday during a protest organized by Students Against The Occupation, as reported by The Guardian. The group, including Thunberg and five others, blocked the entrance to a building at the University of Copenhagen, demanding an “academic boycott” of Israeli universities.

The protest, which gathered about 20 participants, is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have erupted globally since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on Israel, resulting in over 1,200 Israeli deaths and 251 hostages being taken to Gaza. 

Thunberg, known for her climate activism, has recently shifted her focus to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She has described the conflict as “genocide” in a 2023 op-ed in The Guardian and has stated her intention to “crush Zionism” during a protest in the same year. Her arrest on Wednesday marks another chapter in her ongoing advocacy, which has now extended to include the Palestinian cause.

Students Against The Occupation, the group behind the protest, accused Danish media of ignoring their cause and focusing solely on Thunberg’s arrest. “Danish media is only covering her arrest at the university and giving no attention to why we were occupying the university in the first place,” the group posted on Instagram, demanding that the University of Copenhagen end its collaboration with Israeli institutions.

This arrest is not Thunberg's first run-in with the law. In July 2023, she was fined 1,500 Swedish Kronor (about $144 USD) for disobeying police during a climate protest outside the oil port of Malmö, Sweden. 

The group has a history of activism at the University of Copenhagen, organizing a hunger strike in June and setting up an encampment on campus in May, all aimed at pushing for a severance of academic ties with Israeli institutions. In their latest press release, the group reiterated their stance, stating, “We do not have three more years to wait for UCPH’s management to do [the] only right thing. We are forced to act. We are occupying Museumsbygningen in the central administration with one demand: ACADEMIC BOYCOTT NOW!”