Ben and Jerry’s will stop selling ice cream to the West Bank and East Jerusalem Israeli settlements to support Palestine.
After pressure over the years from activist groups, Ben and Jerry’s have decided to sever sales to The West Bank and East Jerusalem.
This comes after the Israel–Palestine crisis and ceasefire in May this year.
They released in social media statements that it was: “inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).”
The West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli control since 1967.
Ben and Jerry’s spoke further of the decision saying: “we have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett criticised the announcement, saying that Ben & Jerry’s is “morally wrong” and that the boycott will be fought.
However, the company will still have a presence in Israel, the details of how are not yet clear.
The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement is a grassroots Palestinian campaign that advocates for the boycotts of Israeli institutions and businesses.
They applauded Ben & Jerry’s decision as: “a decisive step towards ending the company’s complicity in Israel’s occupation and violations of Palestinian rights.”
However, they believe the company should sever ties with Israel completely. They wrote: “we hope that Ben & Jerry’s has understood that, in harmony with its social justice commitments, there can be no business as usual with apartheid Israel.”
Ben and Jerry’s just ended the sale of their ice cream in occupied Palestinian Territories. Next time someone tells you “boycotts don’t work” remind them that it’s been effective in toppling down segregation, apartheid and much more. BDS forever until a freed Palestine
— ¡Viva Fidel! 🇨🇺 (@bitterarab) July 19, 2021
