Five activists in front of Christiansborg demand a stop to arms exports to Israel. A remarkable protest is currently taking place in front of Christiansborg, where five activists have initiated a hunger strike to pressure the Danish government to stop all arms exports to Israel. The initiative, which began on Thursday, is now in its second day, and the activists are not planning to give up. Nicholas Nyrop Vinthen, one of the hunger strikers, explains that their goal is to get Denmark to cease both direct and indirect exports of weapons and weapon parts to Israel. “Our demand is that the Danish government stops all Danish arms exports. Both weapons and weapon parts, and direct and indirect exports to Israel,” he says. The activist group has invited the public to join the protest for as long as they can and want to. According to Nyrop Vinthen, there were already several participants present since Thursday. “Hunger strikes are a tool that has worked before. So we hope that we can express to the government that this is very, very urgent,” he states. On Friday, the activists had a conversation with Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt, marking an important moment in their campaign. Despite spending many hours in front of Christiansborg, the activists go home to rest at night, but the hunger strike continues unabated.
The group also has an active presence on social media, especially on their Instagram profile ‘sultestrejke.for.palestina’, where they share updates about their protest. Vinthen reveals that the hunger strike is the result of months of consideration and preparation. “Of course, we hope that because we are showing the government that we are willing to put our own bodies and health at risk, they will realize the seriousness of the situation in Gaza,” he says. In a press release on Thursday, the activists also called for pressure to be put on Danish companies that, according to them, contribute to the production or export of weapon parts for F-35 aircraft used by Israel.