By Jonathan Michael Feldman, October 5, 2025; Updated October 6, 2025.
Recent reports suggest that Greta Thunberg suffered poor treatment at the hands of Israeli authorities. This incident raises pressing questions about the Netanyahu regime’s respect for basic human rights, the expectations of activists confronting a far-right government and whether or not they should not expect bad treatment at their hands, and the role of journalists exposing one apparent or claimed transgression and how that might be part of a larger package to whitewash another set of transgressions.
The interpenetration of the activist community and interests tied to fundamentalist and reactionary governments makes me very suspicious about some aspects of this incident. The incident may end up further exposing Israel, but also the activist community itself. I do acknowledge that Israel is responsible for disproportionate mass killings in Gaza as well as other numerous transgressions. But I also acknowledge that the media-social movement sphere surrounding parts of the left has a lot of dubious elements to it that similarly need to be exposed. These two tendencies re-enforce one another. In the following analysis, there is evidence that validating one of the witnesses of the claimed abuse involves legitimating a media source known for whitewashing his own government’s attacks on civilians. The incidents being covered up were far worse than what Thunberg faced, however.
The research and drafting of this article utilized AI tools for tasks including the collation of biographical information on media figures and the summary of established reports on media outlets. The central thesis, critical analysis, and final editing were conducted by the author to ensure a coherent and argued perspective.
Ersin Çelik is a key figure in my essay. He makes sympathetic movies about Kurds, if I understand the record correctly, but also covers up their deaths in military strikes by his government. He works for a newspaper aligned with Turkey’s repressive leader. The very same newspaper fabricates news stories and lies. We have here a postmodern puzzle, but perhaps the contradictions of the marriage of left ideas and Islamic sympathies. The puzzle and dumbing down tax are further scrutinized in the post-script.
To be clear, this critique is not intended to create a false equivalence. The scale of Israel’s military power and its actions in Gaza, conducted under the scrutiny of Western media, occupies a distinct category. However, the moral principle of condemning civilian casualties should be universal. The failure to apply this principle consistently—even to allies—undermines the credibility of the cause and provides an easy target for critics who accuse the left of hypocrisy.
Greta Thunberg — Contested Allegations of Mistreatment During Israeli Detention
Accounts that Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was mistreated while detained by Israeli authorities following the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla on October 1, 2025, remain contested. Multiple activists and journalists who were aboard the flotilla allege she was dragged, humiliated, and forced to hold or wear Israeli flags, while Israeli officials deny the accusations, insisting that detainees were treated lawfully (Financial Express, 2025; Hindustan Times, 2025; New Indian Express, 2025; Reuters, 2025).
Background: The Global Sumud Flotilla
The Global Sumud Flotilla was an international aid convoy of approximately 39 vessels carrying humanitarian supplies and activists attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. The flotilla included hundreds of participants from multiple countries, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, and European Parliament member Rima Hassan. Israeli naval forces intercepted the vessels on October 1, 2025, detaining approximately 450 people (Al Jazeera, 2025; CNN, 2025; NPR, 2025).
Allegations of Mistreatment
Turkish journalist Ersin Çelik, who participated in the flotilla, stated that Thunberg was “dragged by her hair” and assaulted, while Italian journalist Lorenzo D’Agostino described her as being “wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy.” Other activists reported that detainees were shoved, deprived of food and water, and forced to sit for long hours on hard surfaces (Financial Express, 2025; Hindustan Times, 2025; Reuters, 2025).
According to Swedish embassy officials, Thunberg reported dehydration, insufficient food, and skin rashes believed to have been caused by bedbugs in her detention cell, though she did not file a formal complaint with Israeli authorities before her deportation (Financial Express, 2025; The Guardian, 2025; Haaretz, 2025). Israeli officials dismissed all allegations as “complete lies,” asserting that all detainees were treated properly and deported swiftly (New Indian Express, 2025; Times of Israel, 2025). Israeli court records later indicated that Thunberg herself did not file any formal complaints during detention, underscoring how contested the activist testimonies remain. Israel began deporting activists on October 5, with approximately 137 sent to Turkey (CBS News, 2025).
Source Evaluation and Media Context
Ersin Çelik and Yeni Şafak
investigative journalism (Media Bias/Fact Check, n.d.; Human Rights Watch, 2023). Many critics of Israel oppose academic collaboration with Israeli universities, but Turkish transgressions have yet to generate a similar kind of backlash.
To understand the kind of selective framing and associated moral posturing that Çelik represents, consider how his observations are utilized by international media. Let us turn to a news story published by The Times of India on October 6th, 2025. The relevant passage reads as follows: “Turkish activist Ersin Çelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency: ‘They dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others.'”
Çelik is a senior journalist with Yeni Şafak, a Turkish daily known for its pro-government editorial stance and close alignment with President Erdoğan’s administration (Media Bias/Fact Check, n.d.). Here is the Wikipedia entry describing the newspaper: “Yeni Şafak (“New Dawn”) is a conservative, Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. The newspaper is known for its hardline support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party and has a very close relationship with the Turkish government. Together with other media organizations in Turkey, it has been accused of using hate speech to target minorities and opposition groups.”
Çelik has served as the outlet’s Internet Editor-in-Chief since 2012 and previously edited Haber7.com. His reporting often reflects Turkish nationalist and Islamist perspectives, especially regarding Israel, Palestine, and regional conflicts. His work frequently characterizes Israeli actions as genocidal and presents Turkish foreign policy favorably.
While Çelik is a recognized media figure in Turkey, his writing is not regarded as neutral by international journalistic standards. Yeni Şafak itself often functions as a state-aligned publication, echoing official narratives and avoiding critical scrutiny of Turkish state policies (Media Bias/Fact Check, n.d.). Academic research on Turkish media confirms this pattern: pro-government outlets like Yeni Şafak routinely echo AKP foreign-policy messaging and marginalize dissenting voices.
One source does indicate that Çelik has an appreciation for Kurdish matterns. In a film review someone sharing his name wrote: “The Kurds have been under intense persecution from the Turks for decades.” The same person even directed a film about the Rojava Kurdish commune in Syria. Yet on October 14, 2016, he wrote an article for Yeni Şafak entitled, “Turkish air strikes kill 16 PKK terrorists in southeast.” The article stated: “Turkish air strikes have killed 16 terrorists of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Hakkari near the border with Iraq over the past two days, security sources said on Wednesday.” The only mention of civilians was the following: “PKK terrorist attacks martyred more than 600 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while more than 7,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.” An article published by CNN and written by Jason Hanna, Isil Sariyuce and Max Blau, however, described other civilian deaths: “Turkey said its attacks killed 160 to 200 Kurdish fighters. However, a predominantly Kurdish political party in Turkey, the HDP, said 14 people, including four civilians, were killed.”
Independent reporting by North Press Agency and Human Rights Watch documents repeated civilian casualties from Turkish airstrikes in northern Syria and Iraq. These reports describe dozens of deaths and injuries among civilians, including women and children, and note that a significant majority of Turkish targets were residential areas. One strike destroyed a children’s hospital under construction in Kobani (North Press Agency, 2023; Human Rights Watch, 2023). Despite these findings, Yeni Şafak routinely describes such military operations as counterterrorism efforts against the PKK or its affiliates, with minimal acknowledgment of civilian harm, illustrating how pro-government Turkish outlets often act as conduits for state messaging.
Returning to the Wikipedia entry on Yeni Şafak, we learn the following: “After İbrahim Karagül became the editor-in-chief of Yeni Şafak, the newspaper became a hardline supporter of then prime minister Erdoğan. More Islamist columnists were employed, while liberals like Kürşat Bumin were fired because of their critical views of Erdoğan and the AK Party.” The reactionary consolidation was reported in 2014. Yeni Şafak is owned by Albayrak Holding, a conglomerate with longstanding ties to Erdoğan and the AKP, and has been instrumental in shaping public opinion in favor of the regime. Çelik has served as Internet Editor-in-Chief at Yeni Şafak since 2012, a position that places him at the helm of one of Turkey’s most consistently pro-Erdoğan media outlets. He survived the reactionary consolidation.
An August 31, 2016 news story in the Hürriyet Daily News explained Noam Chomsky’s accusations that Yeni Şafak published “an interview with himself containing fabricated remarks that he did not state about recent incidents in Egypt.” The story continued: “To back up his claims, Chomsky published the original version of the questions and answers of the email interview with the reporter, Burcu Bulut. Yeni Şafak’s published interview and the philosopher’s website version are quite different in content.” Such episodes have reinforced perceptions of Yeni Şafak’s willingness to manipulate quotations and manufacture content to align with ideological aims. Yet, Çelik still writes for this paper known to invent facts and lie. For example, he filed an article for them on October 2, 2025.
Critical Media Analysis: Selective Scrutiny and Bias
Marc Owen Jones
Marc Owen Jones is a British associate professor of media analytics at Northwestern University in Qatar, where he specializes in researching disinformation, digital authoritarianism, and political repression (Northwestern University Qatar, 2025). Jones has extensively analyzed Western media bias regarding Israeli-Palestinian coverage, particularly examining how social media platforms and news organizations frame the conflict. His research has focused on disinformation campaigns, propaganda, and how digital platforms are weaponized in Middle Eastern politics (Jones, 2019; Qatar Foundation, n.d.).
Jones has been particularly vocal about Western media’s framing of Israeli military operations, arguing that journalists must avoid dehumanizing tropes, use appropriate historical context regarding occupation and settler-colonialism, and strive for accuracy when covering Gaza (The Peninsula Qatar, 2023). His work examines how information environments become “heavily mediated and sanitised” in ways that favor certain narratives over others (LinkedIn, 2023). While Jones has criticized Saudi disinformation campaigns regarding Yemen and the Khashoggi killing (Middle East Monitor, 2023), he writes regularly for Al Jazeera and is employed by a Qatari institution (Hamad bin Khalifa University/Northwestern Qatar).
Al Jazeera, funded by the Qatari government, has been rated as having left-center bias with mixed factual reporting by Media Bias/Fact Check due to “failed fact checks that were not corrected and misleading extreme editorial bias that favors Qatar” (Media Bias/Fact Check, 2025). Israeli authorities have accused Al Jazeera of functioning as a propaganda arm for Hamas, though these claims are contested (Wikipedia, 2024). There is no publicly available evidence that Jones has applied similar critical scrutiny to Al Jazeera‘s coverage or to Qatari government narratives as he has to Western and Israeli media.
Greg Shupak
Greg Shupak, a Canadian professor of media studies at the University of Guelph, offers another critical perspective on media coverage in his 2018 book The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media (Shupak, 2018). Shupak’s analysis examines how major Western news organizations present what he argues is a fundamentally flawed framing of the conflict, emphasizing false equivalence between occupier and occupied, privileging Israeli security narratives, and systematically marginalizing Palestinian perspectives (Middle East Eye, 2018). His work remains widely cited in discussions of media bias through 2024-2025 (Electronic Intifada, 2024). Like Jones, Shupak writes regularly for Al Jazeera and pro-Palestinian outlets.
Comparative Scrutiny of Civilian Casualties
Neither Çelik, Jones, nor Shupak appear to apply comparable analytical rigor to civilian casualties caused by Arab state military operations as they do to Israeli operations. While Jones has acknowledged Saudi disinformation around Yemen (Middle East Monitor, 2023), systematic documentation of Turkish, Syrian, or other Arab state-caused civilian deaths receives substantially less attention in their published work.
Human Rights Watch and North Press Agency document that Turkish airstrikes in northern Syria and Iraq have killed over 136 civilians in 2023 alone, with significant numbers of women and children among the casualties (North Press Agency, 2023; Human Rights Watch, 2023). Turkish operations have included strikes on residential areas and destruction of a children’s hospital under construction in Kobani (Human Rights Watch, 2023). Yet Yeni Şafak, where Çelik serves as senior journalist, consistently frames such operations as legitimate counterterrorism without acknowledging civilian harm (Media Bias/Fact Check, n.d.).
Similarly, while Jones and Shupak extensively critique Western and Israeli media narratives, their published work shows limited parallel analysis of how Qatar-funded outlets or Turkish state media minimize civilian casualties caused by their respective governments or allies. This pattern suggests that selective application of critical media analysis—where scrutiny intensifies or diminishes based on the political orientation of both the analyst and the target—remains a persistent challenge across the ideological spectrum. One then might ask whether a “critical perspective” really means a selectively critical perspective.
This complexity underscores the challenge of evaluating contested allegations in highly polarized conflicts where all major news sources and media critics operate with some degree of institutional bias or ideological alignment, whether pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-government Turkish, or pro-Qatari.
The point here is not that every critic must write about every conflict. Rather, it is to highlight that when a critical framework is applied exclusively to one side of a geopolitical divide, it ceases to be a universal framework and becomes a partisan tool. This selective application does not invalidate their specific critiques of Israel, but it does reveal the limitations of their broader claim to a consistently critical perspective.
Conclusion: The Larger Theoretical Context
Albert Memmi’s The Colonizer and the Colonized (1965) offers a foundational critique of how post-colonial discourse can reproduce moral binaries that obscure internal violence. In Memmi’s framing, the colonizer is cast as inherently oppressive, while the colonized is positioned as morally innocent. This structure, while politically mobilizing, becomes a rhetorical shield when post-colonial regimes commit their own abuses. Turkey’s military operations against Kurdish civilians—documented by independent sources but minimized by state-aligned media like Yeni Şafak—exemplify this displacement. The moral gaze remains fixed on Western or Israeli violence, while parallel or greater violence by regional powers is bracketed. Memmi’s insight clarifies how the post-colonial state can inherit not only sovereignty but also impunity.
In Decolonization and the Decolonized, Memmi (2005) extends this critique by examining how formerly colonized societies often replicate the authoritarianism they once resisted. He argues that the decolonized subject, once liberated, may become complicit in new forms of repression, especially when power is consolidated through nationalism or religious orthodoxy. Turkish airstrikes that kill civilians, including children and hospital staff, are framed as counterterrorism, not state violence. This mythology of liberation—where the post-colonial state claims moral authority while enacting domination—is sustained by media systems that refuse to apply universal standards. When analysts like Jones and Shupak critique Israeli actions but remain silent on Turkish or Qatari abuses, they participate in a selective moral economy that Memmi warned against. This selectivity mirrors what communication scholars describe as moral framing asymmetry—a pattern in which critics intensify moral condemnation of adversaries while soft-pedaling the violence of allies.
Memmi’s work demands that we interrogate not only the content of media narratives but the structure of their omissions. The failure to apply consistent scrutiny across geopolitical lines is not merely an oversight—it is a political act. Empirical studies of Turkish and Qatari media ecosystems show how such omissions are structurally produced through ownership concentration, political clientelism, and the instrumentalization of journalism for foreign policy (see the Boell Foundation report). When post-colonial regimes are granted rhetorical immunity, and their critics selectively target only Western actors, the result is a distorted moral field. This distortion is precisely what populist movements exploit, pointing to hypocrisy and double standards to justify their own ascent. Memmi reminds us that decolonization is not a terminus of critique but its beginning. Justice, if it is to mean anything, must be universal in its application—even, and especially, when it implicates those who speak in the name of liberation.
Memmi’s warning is not that we should stop condemning the original colonizer, but that we must not grant the decolonized a blank check. A movement that truly seeks liberation must hold everyone accountable. Otherwise, it merely swaps one set of injustices for another, and the displacement of truth becomes complete.
Postscript: Why does a Pro-Kurdish Film Maker Align with a Media Agent tied to a Kurdish Repression Mechanism? Co-Pilot Explains, October 6, 2025
That contradiction—Ersin Çelik directing a film that denounces Turkish state violence against Kurds while also serving as a senior editor at Yeni Şafak, a pro-Erdoğan outlet—is not easily resolved. But it’s revealing.
One plausible reading is that Çelik’s work reflects the fragmentation of ideological identity under authoritarian media systems. His film Ji Bo Azadiyê was produced outside Turkey, in Rojava, where editorial control by the Turkish state is absent. In that space, Çelik could express solidarity with Kurdish resistance and denounce Turkish repression. But inside Turkey, especially within Yeni Şafak, the boundaries are rigid. The paper is owned by Albayrak Holding, a conglomerate deeply tied to Erdoğan’s regime, and its editorial line is tightly aligned with AKP priorities. Çelik’s role there is not independent journalism—it’s narrative management.
Memmi’s critique of post-colonial complicity helps here. In Decolonization and the Decolonized, he warns that intellectuals in authoritarian post-colonial states often face a choice: exile, silence, or collaboration. Çelik’s dual roles suggest a kind of compartmentalized dissent—public loyalty, private resistance. His film may be a form of symbolic rupture, but his editorial work remains embedded in the machinery of state messaging. His predicament illustrates what Memmi might call the “colonized intellectual’s bind”: compelled to serve the system he critiques, yet unable to fully detach without exile or censorship (Memmi, 2006).
Alternatively, one could argue that Çelik’s film serves a tactical purpose: to frame Kurdish resistance in Syria as heroic while maintaining the Turkish state’s narrative that Kurdish movements in Turkey are terrorist. This would align with Erdoğan’s foreign policy, which distinguishes between “good Kurds” abroad and “bad Kurds” at home. If so, Çelik’s work is not contradictory—it’s instrumental.
Either way, the tension is real. And it exposes the limits of political expression under regimes that demand loyalty while punishing dissent.
Selected References (APA 7th Edition), see also links above
Al Jazeera. (2025, October 4). Greta Thunberg mistreated by Israeli forces in detention, activists say. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/4/greta-thunberg-mistreated-by-israeli-forces-in-detention-activists-say
CBS News. (2025, October 5). Israel says it has deported 137 flotilla activists to Turkey amid large protests. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-deported-flotilla-activists-turkey-protests/
CNN. (2025, October 2). Global Sumud Flotilla: Greta Thunberg and other activists detained as Israeli military intercepts Gaza-bound aid ships. https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/01/middleeast/israel-gaza-flotilla-explainer-scli-intl
Financial Express. (2025, October 5). Greta Thunberg dragged by hair, paraded and forced to kiss flag in Israeli detention, claims flotilla witnesses; Israel responds. https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/greta-thunberg-dragged-by-hair-paraded-and-forced-to-kiss-flag-in-israeli-detention-claims-flotilla-witnesses-israel-responds/3998853/
Haaretz. (2025, October 4). Greta Thunberg reportedly says Israel detaining her in bedbug-infested cell. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-10-04/ty-article/greta-thunberg-reportedly-says-she-is-being-held-by-israel-in-cell-infested-with-bedbugs/00000199-afa8-d5c1-ad9d-ffe9cd960000
Hindustan Times. (2025, October 5). Dragged by hair, wrapped in Israeli flag: Activists claim Greta Thunberg mistreated in detention. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/dragged-by-hair-wrapped-in-israeli-flag-activists-claim-greta-thunberg-mistreated-in-detention-101759629023747.html
Human Rights Watch. (2023, July 12). Turkey: Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed civilians. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/12/turkey-airstrikes-iraq-and-syria-killed-civilians
Jones, M. O. (2019). The Gulf information war: Propaganda, fake news, and fake trends: The weaponization of Twitter bots in the Gulf crisis. International Journal of Communication, 13, 1389–1415.
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Memmi, A. (1965). The colonizer and the colonized (H. Greenfeld, Trans.). Orion Press. (Original work published 1957)
Memmi, A. (2006). Decolonization and the decolonized (R. Bononno, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 2004)
New Indian Express. (2025, October 5). Greta Thunberg dragged by hair, forced to wear Israeli flag, say activists. https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Oct/05/greta-thunberg-dragged-by-hair-forced-to-wear-israeli-flag-say-activists
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Qatar Foundation. (n.d.). Dr. Marc Owen Jones. https://www.qf.org.qa/media-center/experts/dr-marc-owen-jones
Reuters. (2025, October 4). Activists allege Greta Thunberg mistreated as flotilla detainees arrive in Turkey. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-10-04/turkey-says-citizens-from-gaza-aid-flotilla-to-return-on-special-flight-saturday
The Guardian. (2025, October 4). [Referenced via Haaretz reporting on Swedish Foreign Ministry communications]
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