WFridays for Future’s stance on the Middle East conflict was clear long before the Hamas massacre. The international offshoot accused Israel of “apartheid and neo-colonialism” months ago on the X platform, formerly Twitter, spoke of “imperialism” and glorified Palestinian terrorists as “martyrs.” One post ended with the words “Yallah Intifada!”, a call for resistance that at least tolerates, if not condones, violence against civilians. After October 7th it continued like this. There was talk of a “genocide” against the Palestinians and an alleged “brainwashing” of the Western media. It was the end of a long development.
One can argue about whether this is anti-Semitic or just excessive criticism of Israel. But whatever conclusion you come to, one thing is clear: the movement has drifted away, it has become politically one-sided. In doing so, it has damaged itself and devalued its authority on climate issues.
That was precisely about staying out of the political trench warfare and keeping an eye on the whole thing. The students of Fridays for Future were neutral admonishers. They reminded adults of their responsibility to maintain a livable planet, whether they voted for the Greens or the Union.
Anti-colonialism and anti-capitalism
The German arm of Fridays for Future has distanced itself from the anti-Israel contributions from the headquarters. He condemned Hamas’ terror. One can also give him credit for excluding particularly anti-Israel people from his ranks.
This is not a given for a youth movement, especially not for one that has only existed for five years. And yet the German activists themselves have also lost sight of climate protection. You just have to look at the profiles of many members on social networks. It’s primarily about anti-colonialism, anti-racism and anti-capitalism, and only then does it come to the climate.
In the short term, this actually advances the movement. It mobilizes supporters. Young people are interested in all sorts of things, they want to save the planet, but they also want to take a stand against the right or criticize capitalism. Many people at the demonstrations think similarly.
If a few people chant “System change, not climate change,” they have a good chance that others will join in the chorus. It’s similar on the internet. Anyone who uses strong words against the Union is more likely to receive support from their peers than opposition. Something like that clicks. So more and more topics are added. And opinions are becoming more one-sided. Where is the problem? The buddies from the demo come back week after week.
However, there are people who are only interested in climate protection. There are those who think racism is bad but don’t want to hear about it during the climate protest. Or those who consider it an aberration in identity politics if only activists with a migration background should speak. There are even those who believe that a booming economy promotes climate protection. So the movement is losing what once distinguished it: its broad support. The activists of Fridays for Future are no longer looking at the horizon; they have arrived in the trenches. And that’s where they’re just digging in.
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