In protest against Maersk's arms shipment to Israel, hundreds of activists besieged the company's headquarters in Copenhagen on Wednesday morning, accusing the Danish shipping company of illegally transporting weapons parts and covering up its disruptive role in global supply chains, according to local media quoting Ristau.
Activists from Palestinian and Danish climate movements shut down Maersk's headquarters in Esplanaden, Copenhagen, to prevent employees from coming to work, demanding that Maersk stop shipping weapons parts that could lead to war crimes and genocide.
Under EU and international law, it is prohibited to send weapons or weapon parts to countries where they are likely to be used in unlawful warfare. Celine Sams, an activist with the Green Youth movement, was among a group of activists who blocked the entrances to Maersk's facilities. She told the source: “Besides the obvious wrong of facilitating war, Maersk's arms shipments are also a legal problem and violate its own laws… It's not just a matter of suspicion that the weapons are being used in war crimes; we know that this is the case in Israel's war against the Palestinians.”
Although Maersk has repeatedly asserted, with varying explanations, that it is fulfilling its obligations, this has been proven false in several cases. William Faxhoe, an activist with the Green Youth movement, points out that they ship weapons to Israel, stating: “In reality, Maersk should have admitted that it prioritizes profit over human life. Instead, it has consistently made excuses, and just this month… lied about its contribution to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
The activist believes that Maersk's impunity regarding arms transfers is symptomatic of a larger problem: Denmark's ability to hide in opaque supply chains. "The ease with which Denmark claims to be a leader in the ethical field stems solely from its involvement in supply chains that are difficult to uncover. But if these chains were exposed, it would become abundantly clear that Maersk and other Danish companies are playing a crucial role in the destruction of humanity and the environment globally."“
