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The Real Mastermind Behind Greta Thunberg's Gaza Flotilla Will Blow Your Mind

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  June 09, 2025 2:15 PM

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s “Freedom Flotilla,” which attempted to bring aid to Palestinians living in Gaza, is the brainchild of a Hamas-linked figure in the United Kingdom.

I’ll give you a moment to recover from your shock.

Palestinian journalist Zaher Birawi reportedly described himself as a “founding member” of the Freedom Flotilla International Coalition, which arranged Thunberg’s ill-fated voyage to the Gaza Strip, according to The Telegraph.

Mr Birawi, a Palestinian-British journalist at an Arabic-language satellite TV channel in London, was at the launch of the Madleen a week ago, livestreaming it from its dock in Sicily. Ms Thunberg gave a speech before the boat set sail for Gaza.

In 2013, Mr Birawi was designated by Israel as a Hamas operative in Europe and is the head of the Europal Forum, which Israel designated as a terrorist organisation in 2021.

The Europal Forum strongly denied any terror links, and in 2021 Mr Birwani received compensation after taking legal action against a financial database, which he said had wrongly placed him on a terrorism watch list.

He denied ever being involved in any illegal acts within the scope of terrorism crimes.

Speaking in the Commons in October 2023, Christian Wakeford, the Labour MP for Bury South, used parliamentary privilege to name 63-year-old Mr Birawi as a Hamas operative living in Barnet, north London.

Birawi “is listed as a trustee of a UK-registered charity, Education Aid for Palestinians, and publicly available video shows him hosting a 2019 event in London titled Understanding Hamas,” Wakeford said.

When Hamas massacred Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Birawi reportedly referred to the tragedy as a “blessed morning.”

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Israeli forces seized Thunberg’s boat on Sunday and detained 12 pro-Hamas activists as they attempted to pierce Israel’s naval blockade in the area. Thunberg claimed they were sailing to the region “because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”

In a video, she claimed her team had been “intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces.” She called on her supporters to pressure the Swedish government to facilitate her release.

Birawi became involved in Islamist activities after moving to the UK in the early 1990s. He became the chairman of the Muslim Association of Britain, an organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2001. The Muslim Brotherhood has been linked to several terrorist organizations. He has been instrumental in the protests against Israel in the UK.

While Birawi denies any involvement in terrorist activities, there are several indications that he is deeply tied to Hamas. The Israeli government claims he was a senior Hamas operative in Europe. He has been photographed alongside Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by Israeli forces last year.

This isn’t exactly a good look for Thunberg and her comrades. It’s one thing to claim you are simply trying to help Palestinians. It is quite another to work with someone who is clearly tied to terrorism. It shows Thunberg and others like her are more pro-Hamas than pro-Palestinian.

Of course, this was nothing more than a political stunt aimed at allowing Thunberg to virtue signal about her supposed compassion for civilians in Gaza. They had to have known Israel’s government would not allow them into the area. The plan was to get captured and then take to social media to scream about how horrible Israel is. However, this type of propaganda only works on those who already believe it, so there likely won’t be many minds changed by this display.