Swiss report points to pro-Israel activists in Greta Thunberg debate booking fiasco

The event was held on Wednesday, September 30, on the sidelines of the Zurich Film Festival. Admission was free, with reservations required. Although the event was listed as fully booked online, most seats remained empty, the Italian daily Il Giornale reports.

Greta Thunberg saw it as an operation intended to silence the Sahrawi cause and accused Morocco. The debate accompanied a screening of “My Home of Wind and Sand,” a documentary by Austrian director Patrick Wally about Najla Mohamed Lamin, a Sahrawi activist born in a camp in Algeria.

Organizers did observe a large number of bookings made by some people. Asked by Keystone-ATS, the festival spokesperson confirmed that orders had been limited to four tickets per person. However, she did not attribute the bookings to any organization or confirm that there had been a coordinated effort, Swissinfo reports.

Swiss investigation points to another explanation

Swiss outlet baba news says it received information before the event about a booking operation by people who had no intention of attending. Its sources led its investigation toward pro-Israel circles, which may have wanted to target Greta Thunberg’s activism for Gaza as well as the festival.

The outlet alerted the organizers on Tuesday. They replied that the limit would be reduced from twenty to four tickets per person. Seats were then made available again.

Baba news then describes a new rush: about 230 newly available seats were reportedly booked in one hour and 28 minutes. The next day, the hall was almost empty. The outlet says it shared its information with Greta Thunberg after the debate.

The documentary screening the previous day, at its world premiere, had filled the hall. Greta Thunberg was also there. She praised the film and urged the audience to support the Sahrawis, before taking part the next day in a discussion about the links between their cause, the climate crisis and social justice.