From Boykot Israel Denmark
(Note: This report is primarily based on info-mails from Christian Juhl, MP for the Red Green Alliance in the Danish Parliament).
The Danish Ministry of Defense had planned to buy Israeli high tech weapon systems at an amount of half a billion Danish Kroner (about 85 million US dollars).
On April 30, 2015 the ‘Defense group’ in the Danish Parliament (i.e. those MP’s who decided the latest Defense Agreement 2013 – 2017 representing all parties in parliament except the Red Green Alliance) decided to postpone the purchase of the Israeli artillery equipment. “Obviously the question was too controversial for the moment – short time before the coming general elections in Denmark” (quotation Christian Juhl, MP for the Red Green Alliance). Christian Juhl adds that it would seem strange if the Danish government buys weapons from Elbit when at the same time the Danish government calls on not investing in the illegal Israeli settlements.
What brought the Danish governmental (secret) plans of dealing with Elbit Systems to the public, was a facebook where a Danish artillery officer, Søren Grøndal, on his private facebook – October 30, 2014 – had written: “Work – Negev Desert – State of Israel”!
This made The Red Green Alliance ask questions to the Danish Minister of Defense. Responding to the questions from the Red Green Alliance, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the mentioned officer was in the Negev Desert from October 27 to October 31, 2014 (with a group of 20 persons) – to test the ATMOS system from Elbit – and similar tests were made on the French CAESAR Systems.
The Danish Minister of Defense further informed that in June 2014 a meeting took place between the Danish and Israeli Ministries of defense. But the Ministry said: “There does not exist a regular collaboration between the Danish Defense and the Israeli Defense Forces. There is ad hoc collaboration when it is judged useful and of advantage to the Danish Defense”.
On April 21, 2015, Christian Juhl from the Red Green Alliance asked a new series of questions to the Danish Defense Ministry – questions which have not yet been answered.
Since the question of Danish purchase of Israeli weapons came to the public, there has been an intense public debate and pressure on the government to cancel the deal with the Israeli Elbit Systems. Danish media published that the Israeli Defense Forces had tested the Elbit weapons, for instance Drones – last summer during the Israeli massacre in Gaza where more than 2000 Palestinians were killed, hereunder many children – where after its export increased! (see the report on Elbit Systems from whoprofits.org).
The big media also manifested a relatively critical view on the purchase of Israeli weapons – probably because of the photos from the Gaza massacre last summer, which are relatively fresh in people’s memory.
The Red Green Alliance has on April 21, 2015, asked a number of questions to the Minister of Defense about for instance the collaboration with Israel, the quantity and kind of weapons the Danish state has purchased from Israel during the last 10 years etc.
We in Boykot Israel and other Palestine groups plan to make this Israeli weapon question/Elbit question a theme during the probably very soon coming general election campaign. The deal with Elbit is postponed – but not yet cancelled. The struggle against the Danish weapon deal with Israel continues!
Boykot Israel – Free Palestine
