Many pro-Palestine activists were arrested in Copenhagen on 28 June after protesting outside AP Moller Maersk’s headquarters.
The apprehensions occurred nearly a month after the Palestinian Youth Movement, a cross-border action group formed by Palestinian migrants, launched a global campaign against Maersk Line, called “Mask Off Maersk”, on 3 June, claiming that the Danish mainline operator ships weapons to enable Israel to continue its aggression against Palestine.
The movement claims that Maersk fulfills an “indispensable role” in having shipped 68% of Israel’s weapons imports, which are from the United States.
The movement’s members allege that since October 2023, when the latest Israel-Palestine conflict broke out, Maersk has transported more than US$300 million in arms parts to US weapons makers, such as Northrup Gruman, Woodward, RTX/Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
They are demanding that Maersk halt all business links with Israel and stop facilitating Israel’s alleged genocide in Palestine.
Palestinian Youth Movement’s Instagram page says, “By targeting this central international logistics company which coordinates and ensures the circulation of arms, we target all weapons manufacturers.”
Maersk has responded to the protests by insisting that it does not ship weapons to war zones and is engaged in responsible business practices.
Danish police said that the demonstrators have been charged with “violating the peace of the house”, an action referring to trespassing on private property without permission.
It is not the first time that the Palestinian Youth Movement has demonstrated against Maersk and Danish institutions.
On 11 June, more than 50 movement members staged a sit-in outside Maersk Line’s office in Maidenhead in the UK, and the movement has said that it plans demonstrations outside Maersk offices in the US and Italy.