The movement’s Instagram post speaks of “genocide” against Palestinians. The media would advertise for Israel. The Austrian branch of the group distances itself.
An Instagram post by the climate protection movement “Fridays for Future” (FFF) about the conflict in the Middle East is currently causing a stir. It claims that the Western media is brainwashing people to side with Israel. Fridays for Future Austria distances itself from the article.
“If we look closely at the founding of Israel, the arpartheid system established by the Israeli government against the Palestinians, and the number of people killed, injured and displaced in Palestine from 1947 to the present, one thing becomes very clear: this is not a conflict, this is genocide”, says the Fridays for Future post.
FFF Austria: “United against anti-Semitism”
The media intentionally would never fully tell the story of Israel. Instead, the conflict between Israel and Palestine is described as “complicated” and Palestinians are framed as “terrorists” and therefore dehumanized. “If we don’t give in to their propaganda, we could take away their power,” continues the movement’s report.
The post was heavily criticized on social media. ZiB2 anchor Armin Wolf, for example, talks about “anti-Semitic fools.” Florian Klenk, editor-in-chief of the Viennese weekly “Falter”, describes the authors as “historically uneducated children”. “If that is the case, I don’t think anyone would want anything to do with FFF in the future,” wrote Caritas President Michael Landau.
Fridays for Future Austria has already responded to the post. The account in question is not centrally managed and therefore speaks neither for the global FFF movement nor for the Austrian movement. We have clearly distanced ourselves from the post. “We are united against anti-Semitism and all forms of terror, violence and discrimination,” the movement said in a statement. Lena Schilling, one of the most famous faces on Austria’s climate activist scene, also took the stand. “The fight against the climate crisis is a historic necessity and these statements are weakening the climate movement,” she writes. (ed.)
Only a few activists operate FFF accounts
This is not the first time the account has drawn attention with anti-Israel posts. The German weekly “Jüdische Allgemeine” therefore analyzed who managed these accounts. Their research showed that fewer than a dozen people are behind the global FFF movement’s social media presence. None of them are nationally known or have been elected to office. Among them, there are some people with an almost fanatically anti-Israel attitude who determine the reporting positions on the conflict in the Middle East – and thus shape the public image of the entire FFF movement, writes the newspaper.
The movement’s founder, Greta Thunberg, also recently caused outrage with an Instagram post. She had shared a post from the organization “Palestine Speaks”. She stated that with an attack they wanted to “set an example against the genocide in Gaza and the repressive terror of many Western states against all who show solidarity with Palestine and act accordingly.” The aim is to put “so much pressure on the West that it changes its racist policies”. (shev)
>>> Report from the “Jüdische Allgemeine”