“Enhedslisten (The Unity List) faces serious criticism for their support of a development project in Palestine linked to the armed organization DFLP. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp from the Swedish Defence University calls the party’s defense of supporting the project solely as civilian as ‘bullshit’. Ranstorp, with over 30 years of experience in researching terrorism and radicalization, explains that DFLP has been involved in killing civilians and military activities throughout its existence, making any claim of civilian engagement morally reprehensible. The controversy arose when it was documented that DFLP was involved in the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, where a civilian man from Tanzania was killed. Enhedslisten, which had a collaboration with DFLP from 2012 to 2021, however emphasizes that the Danish aid funds went to projects on gender equality and democracy.
Trine Mach from Enhedslisten stated that the aid money did not go to DFLP’s armed wing, but Magnus Ranstorp points out that such a division is not possible. He compares it to the argumentation surrounding Hamas, where there is no clear distinction between the political and military branches. Enhedslisten insists that they were not aware of DFLP’s armed activities, a claim supported by Mathias Parsbæk Skibdal from the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy. He states that the institute would never have supported the organization if they had known about its militant side. However, Ranstorp maintains that organizations like DFLP have a unified leadership, making it impossible to support part of the organization without indirectly supporting its entire structure.
Trine Mach responds to Ranstorp’s criticism with an assurance that Enhedslisten would in no way have collaborated with DFLP if they had known about its militant activities. She calls it a ‘misunderstanding’. It is still unclear what consequences this revelation will have for Enhedslisten and their partners, but it is clear that the question of moral responsibility for aid funds has come under closer scrutiny.”