An expected speech, a few days before the deadline. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg on Friday called Donald Trump the “most dangerous” option ahead of the US presidential election on November 5, while criticizing the outgoing US administration, including Kamala Harris, over its support for Israel. She called on Americans to go beyond voting by protesting, saying they “cannot settle for the least worst option.”
It is “probably impossible to overestimate the consequences that this election will have for the world and for the future of humanity,” wrote the 21-year-old activist on X, four days before the American election. “There is no doubt that one of the candidates, (Donald) Trump, is much more dangerous than the other,” Kamala Harris, she said.
But for all that, “regardless of whether it is Trump or Harris who wins, the United States – a country built on stolen land and genocide of indigenous peoples – will remain an imperialist, hypercapitalist world power that will continue to lead the world towards a racist and unequal world, with a climate that is increasingly degenerating – and an environmental emergency”, castigated the young Swede, who became known, while still a teenager, for having launched a strike movement of schoolchildren and young people to call for the fight against climate change.
A “genocide” in Palestine, “with the money and complicity of the Americans”
“My main message to Americans is to remember that they cannot settle for the least worst option,” she continued. “You can't think you did enough only by voting, especially when these two candidates have blood on their hands,” the activist also accused.
She heavily criticized the outgoing administration – President Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris – for their support for Israel and its offensive in the Gaza Strip. “Let us not forget that the genocide in Palestine is taking place under the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, with the money and complicity of the Americans,” accused the activist, who has taken a position on several occasions in favor of Palestinians in recent months. “It is in no way feminist, progressive or humanitarian to bomb children and innocent civilians – it’s the opposite, even if a woman is in charge.”
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
Israel's main ally and supporter, the United States has granted it billions of dollars in military aid to support its response against Hamas. The retaliatory offensive carried out by the Jewish state in Gaza left 43,259 dead, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the government of the Palestinian Islamist movement, deemed reliable by the UN.
“Denounce this extreme hypocrisy”
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a decision in January asking Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any act of genocide in Gaza. South Africa, which had initiated this procedure against the Jewish state, announced on Monday that it had submitted “evidence” of Israel’s “genocide” to the institution, accusations refuted by the Israeli government.
“I do not understand how some people can claim to speak about humanitarian values without ever questioning their own role in the aggravation of global oppression and the massacres of entire countries,” concluded Greta Thunberg, calling on Americans to “do everything what is in your power to denounce this extreme hypocrisy.”
She more broadly urged them to take political action by demonstrating to fight against the “catastrophic consequences of American imperialism”. “Take to the streets, block, organize, boycott, occupy, explicitly challenge those in power whose actions and inaction lead to death and destruction,” insisted the activist, calling for support “those who resist and drive change.”
