Greta Thunberg interrupted after she invites a Palestinian on stage
A man briefly interrupted climate activist Greta Thunberg after she invited a Palestinian and an Afghan woman on stage to speak at a climate protest in Amsterdam.
Thunberg was speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands when she invited the women onto the stage, news agency AP reported.
“As a climate justice movement, we have to listen to the voices of those who are being oppressed and those who are fighting for freedom and for justice. Otherwise, there can be no climate justice without international solidarity,” Greta Thunberg said.
As Thunberg started speaking after the Palestinian and Afghan women spoke, the man came onto the stage and told her, “I have come here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” before he was removed from the stage.
While the man’s identity was not immediately clear, he was seen wearing a jacket with the name of a group called Water Natuurlijk that has elected members in Dutch water boards.
Before Thunberg took the stage, the event was briefly interrupted as a small group of activists at the front of the crowd waved Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans. She appeared undeterred and was later seen dancing behind the stage as band played.
Amsterdam marchers demand climate action
Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Amsterdam on Sunday demanding immediate action against climate change, 10 days before the country holds the general elections.
Police said around 70,000 people joined the march, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who will lead the combined Labour and Green parties at the upcoming election.
Organisers said the turnout was the largest ever at a climate protest in the Netherlands.
Protesters, some wearing scuba diving gear as a reference to rising sea levels and many carrying signs reading “Cut the crap, scale emissions back!” and “Don’t like our Climate March? Try living on Mars”, marched 3.5 kilometres through Amsterdam singing, chanting and blowing whistles.
Netherlands elections
The Netherlands heads to the elections on November 22, after an election campaign that has so far been dominated by discussions on migration and the rising cost of living. Climate issues in general rank lower on most people’s priority lists, recent opinion polls have shown.