According to Unilever (the company that owns Ben & Jerry’s icecream), a new Israeli agreement will allow Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be placed back on shelves in the annexed East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank despite Israeli policies being protested by the ice cream maker.
It’s not clear if this product would still be popular with Ben & Jerry’s fans, as it would only come in Hebrew or Arabic letters.
Vermont-based company has been a supporter of liberal causes for many years. It took to social media to voice its disapproval at Unilever’s decision. “We believe it is inconsistent in Ben & Jerry’s values for our icecream to be sold in Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company tweeted. It also noted that it would no longer make a profit from the brand in Israel.
We are aware about the Unilever announcement. We are not in agreement with the Unilever announcement by our parent company. (1/3)
Israel celebrated the victory as part of its ongoing campaign against the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. BDS seeks to put economic pressure on Israel for its military occupation in the lands that the Palestinians desire to become a state.
Unilever, the company that acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2002, but disassociated itself from the ice-cream maker’s decision to stop sales in the territories last year, announced Wednesday that it had sold its Israeli business interests to a local firm that would sell Ben & Jerry’s icecream under the Hebrew and Arabic names throughout Israel and the West Bank.
The companies reached an agreement that Ben & Jerry’s would sell its independent board. This would allow the ice cream maker to continue its social mission. It also supported longstanding support for liberal causes such as climate action, racial justice and LGBTQ rights, and campaign finance reform. Unilever would make all financial and operational decisions.
Unilever stated that it had “used the last year to listen and consider different perspectives on this sensitive and complex matter” and believes this is the best outcome possible for Ben & Jerry’s Israel.
Unilever stated in its statement that it doesn’t support the BDS movement. Unilever stated that it is proud of Israel’s business, which employs approximately 2,000 people and has four production plants.
Avi Zinger, owner of Israel’s American Quality Products Ltd., purchased the business from Unilever. He had sued Unilever in March in a U.S. Federal Court over the termination of their business relationship.
Zinger’s legal team stated that Unilever’s decision was part of a settlement. Zinger thanked Unilever and its legal team for resolving the issue and for taking a strong and principled stand against BDS. Zinger stated that there is no place to discriminate in the commercial sale ice cream.
However, the rapid reaction to the new agreement was swift.
Omar Shakir, director of Human Rights Watch for Israel, stated that Unilever seeks out to undermine Ben & Jerry’s “principled determination” to avoid complicity with Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. His organization calls these violations apartheid. Israel strongly rejects this characterization.
It won’t work: Ben & Jerry’s will not be doing business with illegal settlements. Although it may taste and look similar, the next step is not based on Ben & Jerry’s social justice values.
Israel thanked the US governors for their support in its campaign against BDS and hailed the decision. Unilever had consulted its Foreign Ministry throughout this process, according to the company.
Foreign Minister Yair Lepid stated that “Antisemitism won’t defeat us, even when it comes down to ice cream.” “We will fight delegitimization of the BDS campaign in all arenas, whether it is in the public square, the economic sphere, or the moral realm.”
BDS, a umbrella group that is supported by almost all of Palestinian civil societies, describes itself as a peaceful protest movement, modeled after the South African boycott campaign. It doesn’t adopt an official position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian war, and officially rejects antisemitism.
Israel considers BDS an attack on its legitimacy partly because of the extreme views of some of its supporters. Israel also points out the support of the group for a right to return millions of Palestinian refugees — which would mean the end of Israel’s Jewish-majority status — and the refusal of BDS leaders to endorse a two state solution.
Ben & Jerry did not declare a boycott and seemed to be aimed at Israel’s settlement enterprise. There are 700,000 Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, east Jerusalem, and other territories Israel annexed. Israel considers these areas its capital. Both territories were captured by Israel in 1967’s Mideast war. The Palestinians want them to become part of their future state.
The majority of the international community considers the settlements a violation international law. Because they absorb and divide the land upon which a future Palestinian state will be established, the Palestinians view them as the biggest obstacle to peace. Every Israeli government has increased settlements, even during the peak of the peace process in 1990s.
