Enhedslisten (The Unity List) supported DFLP with tax money until 2021 – now discontinued after a terrorist attack
Enhedslisten has provided financial support to the Palestinian organization Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) until 2021. However, this support was discontinued when it was revealed that DFLP had participated in a terrorist attack against Israel on October 7th last year. Jyllands-Posten was the first to uncover DFLP’s role in the attack, and B.T. has since presented further evidence, including video material showing how DFLP abducted and executed a 21-year-old Tanzanian man, Joshua Mollel, during the attack.
A new report from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch has further confirmed DFLP’s involvement in this attack. The report points out that it was DFLP’s paramilitary wing, the Martyr Omar Al Qassem Brigades, that participated in the attack. However, DFLP did not act alone. According to Human Rights Watch, five different groups participated in the attack, including Hamas and PFLP, both of which are on the US and EU lists of terrorist organizations. These groups operated in a common “operations forum” and participated in joint military training leading up to the attack on October 7th.
Over 1,200 people were killed in this terrorist attack, with 815 of them being civilians. The report also documents that several of the involved terrorist groups targeted their attacks towards civilians and committed rapes and other forms of sexual abuse.
According to Jyllands-Posten, the cooperation between Enhedslisten and DFLP was financed through publicly supported development aid from 2013 to 2021. In total, 3.2 million Danish kroner were used for a collaborative project with DFLP and two other left-wing parties in the West Bank. In 2023, all cooperation, including any potential future collaboration, was discontinued as a result of DFLP’s involvement in the terrorist attack on October 7th.
Rasmus Holme, responsible for Enhedslisten’s executive board, stated in a written comment to B.T. that Danish tax money has not been used for terrorism. “Until 2021, Enhedslisten had a partnership with several Palestinian organizations, including DFLP, in the West Bank on the promotion of women’s rights and democracy. The project was a collaboration project through the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The institute and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have carefully examined the old project and unequivocally concluded that no funds from the project went to terrorism. As soon as Enhedslisten became aware that an armed branch in Gaza affiliated with DFLP was involved, we immediately discontinued any future collaboration with them,” Rasmus Holme states.
This article was updated on July 18th at 5:05 PM with a comment from Rasmus Holme and a clarification that Enhedslisten’s taxpayer-supported collaboration with DFLP ceased in 2021.