The international group spoke online of “brainwashing” by Western media that did not tell the whole story and described Israel as an “apartheid system.” There are not two sides, but an “oppressor” and an “oppressed”. “FFF Austria” distanced itself from the international organization’s statements in a publication on Thursday.
“FFF” spokeswoman Klara König also spoke out “clearly” against anti-Semitism to ORF.at on Friday and distanced herself from the international organization’s statements. Current events in the Middle East are shocking many young members of the movement; they are against violence, terror and discrimination.
❗️The account @Fridays4future it is not centrally managed and therefore speaks neither for the global FFF movement nor for the FFF AT❗️
As FFF in Austria, we are united against anti-Semitism and therefore clearly distance ourselves from your posts. https://t.co/7zdJbHLoMu
– Fridays for Future in Austria (@FFF_Austria) October 26, 2023
Reference to the “decentralized movement”
We also ask for your understanding that this is a broad and decentralized movement, with no “clear structural anchoring” or regulated voting procedures with regard to online presence. As a first consequence, they have already publicly distanced themselves from the statements.
They now want to continue focusing on the movement’s core competence and take to the streets to preserve their livelihoods. When ORF.at asked if a realignment or better coordination of communication on social media was planned, it said that at the moment they were “discussing everything again internally”.
In August, the German daily newspaper “Jüdische Allgemeine” published research into the movement’s accounts based on anti-Israel publications. According to the information, the content of the “FFF International” account is widely used by almost a dozen activists. None of them are nationally known or have been elected to office. Among them there are “only a handful of people” with a “fanatically anti-Israel attitude” who determine the account’s positions in the Middle East.
Portal/Julia Geiter A “Fridays for Future” demonstration in Vienna
Thunberg attacks in front of the Swedish parliament
Meanwhile, Swedish climate activist and “FFF” initiator Thunberg once again defended the Palestinians on Friday. “Justice for Palestine,” read a sign the 20-year-old held in her hands during her Friday climate protest in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm. As an image shared by Thunberg on social media showed, several of her colleagues also held up signs expressing solidarity.
Last week, Thunberg’s call for a strike in solidarity with the Palestinians caused a stir. Thunberg wrote on social media: “Today we are on strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world must raise its voice and demand an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for the Palestinians and all affected civilians.”
Critics particularly complained that Thunberg did not specifically mention the 1,400 deaths in Islamist Hamas’ massive attack on Israel two weeks ago. There was also criticism of a cuddly toy seen in the photo, which was said to be reminiscent of an anti-Semitic symbol. Thunberg wrote in a new post that he was unaware of the similarity. “Of course, we are against any type of discrimination and condemn any form of anti-Semitism.”
Protest researcher identifies “huge potential for division”
Even so, Thunberg’s statements caused outrage in Germany. The fact that German climate activist Luisa Neubauer, when asked about Israel’s statements on the German climate scene, said that she was part of a “structurally anti-Semitic society” confused responsibility, writes “Welt”. The climate movement needs to start a debate about anti-Semitism within its own ranks.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, took a step forward towards the German “Bild”. “I expect a real dissociation of Luisa Neubauer and ‘Fridays for Future Germany’, a change of name of the organization and the breaking of all contacts with ‘Fridays for Future International’”, is Schuster’s demand.
“On the one hand, you always benefit from the fact that it is a global movement, that it is very diverse and based in different countries,” Jannis Grimm, a protest researcher at the Free University of Berlin, told NDR about the controversy. But this also means that everything depends on regional ramifications. “And now there can be so much distancing, even honest distancing, from these words: the brand effect still remains. And that has enormous divisive potential.”