Swedish activist Greta Thunberg appeared as a speaker in the south-western German city of Mannheim on Friday at a pro-Palestinian event organized by the group Zaytouna in the Rhine-Neckar region.
The rally, held on the city’s main market square, included a discussion session focusing on solidarity with Palestine and the climate movement.
A city spokeswoman reported that 700 people attended the peaceful event on Friday evening. Initially, 200 and then 500 participants had been announced. The city did not name the organizer.
Conservative regional parliamentary party leader Manuel Hagel criticized Thunberg, asserting that she moves very consciously in close proximity to anti-Semitism.
“Mannheim does not need a platform for such dehumanizing positions and our country does not need the presence of people like Greta Thunberg,” Hagel said.
Thunberg, known globally as a climate activist, has repeatedly expressed solidarity with the Palestinians since the attack by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement on Israel more than a year ago and the subsequent military actions by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
She has accused Israel of genocide, leading critics to accuse her of being one-sided. The 21-year-old has been arrested at demonstrations in various countries, primarily at climate protests.
