The sister of Evyatar David, a Hamas captive, pointed out the activist had used his picture in a social media post about the plight of Palestinians in Israeli jails
Publicado en The Times, el 8 de octubre de 2025
The sister of an Israeli hostage has called Greta Thunberg a “joke” after the climate activist mistakenly confused her brother, Evyatar David, with a Palestinian prisoner.
“You should make a research before you post things you don’t understand about. In the sixth slide you put a photo of an Israeli Hostage who Hamas starved on purpose. This is Evyatar David,” Yaela David wrote below Thunberg’s Instagram post.
Thunberg’s post, intended to highlight the plight of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, included pictures of what she said were Palestinian prisoners with the text: “The suffering of Palestinian prisoners is not a matter of opinion — it is a fact of systematic cruelty and dehumanisation. Humanity cannot be selective.”
Thunberg’s post included a photograph of an Israeli held hostage by Hamas, right
Her critics have accused Thunberg of downplaying the plight of Israeli hostages in her pro-Palestinian activism.
About 20 hostages, including David, are believed to be alive in Gaza two years after they were taken captive. Negotiations are underway in Egypt to ensure their release, which is also intended to secure the freedom of more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,700 Gazans detained since October 7 and hundreds of others serving several life sentences for murder.
Evyatar David
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Thunberg’s post included a picture of David, 24, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival massacre on October 7. David was last seen in a Hamas propaganda video, emaciated and exhausted, digging his own grave at the instruction of his captors.
The other two photographs show a young Palestinian being dragged in a chokehold by an Israeli soldier. The face of another man appeared to be branded with a Star of David under his eye.
Thunberg posted the pictures on Monday, the day she was deported from Israel over her second attempt to deliver aid to Gaza and break the naval blockade of the enclave. She and hundreds of others, including Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, were detained and deported by Israel, which commandeered the flotilla as it attempted to deliver aid.
Mandla Mandela
David’s sister called on Thunberg to delete the post. “Every minute you are not deleting the post, you are becoming a bigger joke,” she wrote. Others on social media accused the activist of not being well-informed on the subject on which she is campaigning.
The image Thunberg chose raised global condemnation when it was released and was widely shared. It also showed David crossing the dates off a calendar showing when he last ate.
“This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out,” David said in the video.