Greta Thunberg, the climate activist who built her reputation on refusing to fly due to carbon emissions, found herself unceremoniously deported on a commercial flight from Israel to France after her Gaza flotilla adventure was cut short.
The 22-year-old Swedish campaigner was among 12 activists detained when Israeli naval forces intercepted their charity yacht, the Madleen, as it attempted to breach Gaza's naval blockade carrying what Israel dismissively called "a tiny amount of aid".
Thunberg had earlier declared from the ship: "We deem the risk of silence and the risk of inaction to be so much more deadly than this mission."
Gaza's blockade exists in a legal grey area where United Nations experts disagree - some find Israel's blockade legal, while others argue that it violates international law.
Turkey condemned Israel's actions as "a clear violation of international law", whilst Spain summoned Israel's ‘charge d'affaires’.
Israel's response was characteristically blunt, dismissing the voyage as "a pro-Hamas publicity stunt", and noting "the tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels".
Established humanitarian corridors are available for legitimate aid delivery.
Thunberg's accused Israel of being "kidnapped on international waters" after arriving in Paris.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which she is a part of, has attempted similar breaches for years, with invariably identical outcomes - detention, deportation, and renewed calls for international pressure.
