Woke ice-cream giants Ben & Jerry’s have vowed to stop sales in Occupied Palestinian Territory because it is “inconsistent with our values”.
Based in Vermont in the US, Ben & Jerry’s said on Monday that they were going to stop the sale of their products in east Jerusalem and Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The announcement was considered a strong rebuke of Israeli settlement in those areas, seen by some in the international community as illegal.
The company informed its licensee, responsible for producing and distributing products in Israel, that the licence agreement will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2022.
Ben & Jerry’s explained that the decision was partly based on “concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners”.
Last month, the ‘Vermonters for Justice in Palestine’ group called on the ice-cream giant to “end complicity in Israel’s occupation and abuses of Palestinian human rights”.
Group spokesperson Ian Stokes said: “How much longer will Ben & Jerry’s permit its Israeli-manufactured ice cream to be sold in Jewish-only settlements while Palestinian land is being confiscated, Palestinian homes are being destroyed, and Palestinian families in neighbourhoods like Sheik Jarrah are facing eviction to make way for Jewish settlers?”
In 2018, the woke brand rebranded one of its products as Pecan Resist ahead of the midterm elections to protest President Trump’s policies.
The company said the flavour celebrated activism against oppression, injustice, and harmful environmental practices.
Ben & Jerry’s also offered to give away USD 25,000 to four activist groups.
East Jerusalem and the West Bank were seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and around 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in the two territories.
The Yesha Council, which represents around 500,000 Israelis living in the West Bank, said: “There’s no need to buy products from companies that boycott hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens because of the place they choose to live.”
The group called on Israelis to buy locally- produced ice cream this summer instead.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the company’s decision “a shameful capitulation to antisemitism, BDS and everything bad in the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse”.
