Overnight, Greta Thunberg went from celebrated climate hero to pariah in the globalist halls of power. All it took was condemning Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

The New York Times published hundreds of articles about Greta Thunberg every year between 2018 and September 2023. In 2025, the paper has mentioned her in just three articles. The Washington Post shows the same pattern: from hundreds of articles annually to fewer than a handful so far in 2025.

That’s a drop of over 95 percent. This collapse did not happen gradually, but can be dated precisely to October 20, 2023, when Thunberg published an Instagram post with the caption ‘Stand with Gaza.’ Within just a few days, the media moguls of the Western bloc had turned their backs on her.

What did Thunberg actually say that was so controversial? Here is her full text from October 20, 2023:

”Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice, and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected”.

A call for a ceasefire and justice for all civilians. That was enough to transform her overnight from a climate hero to an alleged ”anti-Semite”.

Palestine Exception

Thunberg is far from alone. Researchers have documented a phenomenon called the “Palestine Exception” – which describes how people who support other liberation movements around the world are immediately labeled as controversial when they express solidarity specifically with Palestinians.

A call for a ceasefire and justice for all civilians. That alone was enough for her to be transformed overnight from climate hero to alleged ”anti-Semite”.

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd went from music legend to “anti-Semite” after criticizing Israel. Actress Susan Sarandon was dropped by her agency following statements on Gaza. University professors have been fired, authors have lost publishers, and artists have had tours canceled for taking a stand against Israel’s genocidal policies.

The pattern is always the same: total acceptance of “progressive” positions – until Israel is condemned.

The mascot became a threat

Observers and critics have long pointed out that during her “glory days” from 2018–2023, Thunberg was a perfect alibi and tool for the left-liberal powers of the Western world. By praising the young climate activist, politicians such as Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, and Justin Trudeau could appear progressive and responsive.

However, it was not just empty PR. Within this establishment, there was already a very strong line that climate alarmism and globalist initiatives rooted in it were central to their politics. “Green” investments (wind turbines) were the future, climate- and rainbow-themed ESG criteria would govern capital flows, and the EU was to become a world leader in the ”green transition”.

Enter a young activist who could sell climate alarmism to her own generation, making them feel heard and seen. When Thunberg scolded world leaders from the UN podium, it served their purposes perfectly – they could nod humbly, appear receptive to criticism, and then point to their “climate packages” as proof that they ”listened to the youth”.

In exchange for giving politicians a charismatic figurehead for their agenda, Thunberg gained access to the world’s largest stages. The uniformed figurehead was invited to speak at Davos, the UN, and the European Parliament. For the establishment, it cost nothing but provided enormous gains – both in PR and in political legitimacy for the otherwise heavily criticized and unpopular ”climate policies”, which many perceive as a scheme to undermine the middle class, benefit corporate giants, and legitimize a more totalitarian, globalist-oriented rule.

Became a liability

The numbers speak for themselves: in 2019, Thunberg received 21 prestigious invitations from the world’s most powerful institutions. After October 2023? Zero. Not a single invitation to COP28 or COP29. Not a single government meeting. Radio silence is total.

When Greta linked the climate issue to Palestine, she was no longer useful. Instead, she became a liability for the interests she had previously represented. In a short time, she went from being an asset and a puppet for the globalist establishment – where the Jewish lobby holds strong influence – to becoming an annoying disruption, or even a threat.

In 2019, Thunberg was named “Person of the Year” by Time – an honor that led to celebratory articles in virtually all major Western media. She was cheaply portrayed as a rebel who dared to be uncomfortable and broke new ground against an otherwise unwilling establishment.

By 2023, after she had actually done something truly rebellious on the international stage by taking a stand against Israel’s war crimes, the tone had completely changed. Like many others, she was labeled an ”anti-Semite”, and even the German magazine Der Spiegel, which had previously praised Greta, accused her of ”betraying the climate movement”.

Her own movement betrayed her

The German Federal Commissioner against Anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, who had previously praised Thunberg’s activism, suddenly called her statements ”hostile to Israel and anti-Semitic”. Even more revealing was how Luisa Neubauer, leader of Fridays for Future Germany and formerly a close ally of Thunberg, handled the situation:

Before October 2023, Neubauer described Thunberg as an inspiration and a guiding figure for the green movement. After October 2023, Neubauer declared that “trust is broken” and announced that Thunberg ”does not represent Fridays for Future Deutschland”.

The movement that Thunberg herself had inspired and fronted immediately threw her under the bus when she became genuinely controversial. It took only a few weeks.

“Anti-Semite of the Year”

Swedish media published an average of 40 articles per month about Thunberg before October 2023, 75 percent of them positive. After October 2023? Four articles per month, 85 percent negative.

When Thunberg chanted “Crush Zionism” outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm in November, criticism exploded. The same Swedish media that had built their entire climate coverage around her suddenly could not distance themselves fast enough.

Israel immediately removed all references to her from the country’s curricula. She was nominated for “Anti-Semite of the Year” by the pro-Israel lobby organization Stop Antisemitism, while ministers and members of parliament publicly disavowed the activist.

The strategy of power: Groom, use, dump

The Greta Thunberg case reveals a cynical but often effective strategy employed by globalist powers:

1. Identify young, charismatic activists.

2. Highlight them as heroes as long as they promote “harmless” issues that align with the powers’ own agenda, such as feminism, LGBTQ rights, climate, and pro-migration causes.

3. Use them to enhance their own profile and advance their own agenda.

4. Brutally dump them if they ”go their own way”.

Greta worked perfectly as long as she stuck to the climate issue. Sure, she talked about systemic change and that politicians’ actions were insufficient, but it could always be interpreted as something abstract and future-oriented – and above all, harmless to our leaders. She was angry, but in the “right” way. Her radicalism stayed within boundaries acceptable to those in power.

During her peak in 2019, she generated, according to analyses, 43.3 billion views on social media over a three-month period. Today, her reach is minimal by comparison, and in mainstream media she has been reduced to a voice only dutifully noticed in connection with protests or major events.

Here is something crucial: millions of Europeans share Thunberg’s condemnation of the genocide in Gaza. So it is not the people who have turned their backs on her – it is those in power and the media they control who have rejected her.

The Thunberg case clearly shows the invisible boundaries of what issues the establishment allows to be raised and what can be said – and what is in fact controversial and taboo. Do not question the established order – do not dare to criticize the wrong powers or lobby groups.

It also shows how immediate and far-reaching the fall can be once you ”cross the line”. Years of praise and goodwill can be dissolved in a matter of days if you take a stand for the ”wrong” cause, and hundreds of positive articles can be erased by a single “unacceptable” opinion.

The system that exposes itself

The globalist establishment has already found new climate heroes to promote instead. Safer choices this time. Reliable alarmist activists who stick to the script, who don’t suddenly start talking about Palestine or other unwanted systemic criticism.

The handling of Thunberg illustrates something fundamental about the system’s relationship to its symbols. The irony in Greta’s case is particularly striking because she was promoted precisely as a ”daring rebel”. When she broadened her perspective and became a true rebel, she was publicly rejected.

The lesson is clear: next time the establishment embraces a young activist, remember that they are only tolerated as long as they stay within invisible boundaries. The step from hero to pariah is shorter than many think – even if your name is Greta Thunberg.

The lesson is also that “playing by the rules” and staying within the prescribed boundaries does little for anyone who genuinely seeks to challenge the illegitimate power structures dominating Western politics. Labels and insults like these, which are used to brand real opposition, can currently be regarded more as marks of honor.

The review is based on analysis of over 32,000 international media sources and extensive studies conducted in Claude AI.

Markus Andersson