A group of pro-Palestinian activists blocked the entrance to the headquarters of Norwegian weapons producer Nammo in Raufoss on Thursday. They claim Nammo weapons and their components are being sent to Israel for use against Palestinians in Gaza.
“We want them (Nammo) to take responsibility and stop producing weapons that they know will be delivered to Israel,” Turid Thomassen, leader of Palestinakomiteen Oppland, told state broadcaster NRK. Some of the activists chained themselves to Nammo’s main gate and prevented employees from coming to work.
Nammo officials called the demonstration “unacceptable” and firmly deny they cooperate with Israel. “The activists have come to the wrong address,” said Nammo’s communications director Thorstein Korsvold. “Nammo has never sold weapons or ammunition from Norway to Israel,” he told NRK, “nor have weapons or ammunition from our factories in other countries been sold to Israel for the past 10 years.” Nammo, which is partly owned by the Norwegian state, has acknowledged that some weapons produced in the US more than a decade ago were purchased by the US Army. Any further export of them to Israel was under the jurisdiction of the US.
Nammo is also a producer of weapons being sent to Ukraine. There have been few if any protests over those transactions, which are backed by the Norwegian government, occur under Norwegian jurisdiction and have broad support in Parliament.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
