Ben & Jerry’s announces end of sales in “Occupied Palestinian Territory”

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Ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s announced Monday that it will no longer distribute its products in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” apparently referring to West Bank settlements, although the flavors will remain available in Israel.

“We believe that it is incompatible with our values ​​that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners, ”the company said in a statement.

“We have a long-standing partnership with our licensee, who makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change that, so we have informed our licensee that we will not be renewing the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year, ”he said.

However, the company said it would continue to supply its ice cream inside Israel, albeit through another distributor.

“Although Ben & Jerry’s is no longer sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, we will remain in Israel under a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we are ready, ”the statement added.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967, and today more than 400,000 Israeli settlers live there. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal and an obstacle to the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Israel views the territory as contested and says the fate of the settlements must be resolved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Israel has annexed East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, and regards the entire city as the undivided capital of the Jewish state. Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of a future state, and the international community sees Israeli neighborhoods there as settlements, a designation Israel contests.

The current Israeli distributor of Ben & Jerry’s has condemned the ice cream company’s decision to abandon its licensing agreement with them.

“The decision is completely unacceptable. Ben & Jerry’s International decided not to renew their agreement with us in a year and a half, after we refused their request to stop distribution throughout Israel, ”he said. “We urge the government and Israeli consumers not to let them boycott Israel. “

“Keep ice cream out of politics,” he added.

The distributor, which produced special Jewish holiday flavors such as the Passover haroset and the Israeli election-themed flavors, urged Israelis to buy locally produced ice cream instead.

(photo credit: courtesy of Ben and Jerry's Israel)

Overcrowding on the production line. (courtesy of Ben and Jerry’s Israel)

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a statement saying the decision was a mistake.

“Ben & Jerry’s decided to present themselves as anti-Israel ice cream,” Bennett said. “It is a moral error and I think it will also be a commercial error.”

“The boycott against Israel… reflects that they have gone completely astray. The boycott does not and will not work and we will fight it with all our might, ”added the Prime Minister.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also condemned Ben & Jerry’s decision, calling it “a shameful surrender to anti-Semitism, to BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel], to all that is wrong with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse.

The Foreign Secretary has said he will call on the more than 30 U.S. states with anti-BDS laws to implement them against Ben & Jerry’s in retaliation. The laws force states to divest from companies that boycott Israel.

“We will not remain silent,” he insisted.

Home Secretary Ayelet Shaked tweeted: “Your brand of ice cream doesn’t match our tastes. Everything will be fine without you.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also weighed in. “Now we Israelis know which ice cream NOT to buy,” he wrote on Twitter.

Samaria Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan blasted Ben & Jerry’s for stopping sales in areas the Palestinians claimed for their future state.

“The people of Samaria [West Bank] and this land will stay strong long after Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is melted and gone from the world, ”Dagan said in a statement.

“We will not give in to this anti-Semitism, which has permeated American Jewry,” he said, possibly referring to the progressive Jewish founders of the iconic brand of ice cream.

Meanwhile, a left-wing Meretz MP blamed Israeli settlement expansion for Ben & Jerry’s move.

“Ben & Jerry’s does not boycott Israel, but rather the settlements. You may not like it, but this is the price of settlement expansion, land grabbing and the scrambling of the Green Line, ”tweeted MP Michal Rozin.

Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman wrote on Twitter that Ben and Jerry’s decision was “appropriate and moral.” She added that the “occupied territories are not part of Israel” and that this decision is an important step to help pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation.

Ben & Jerrys’ Pecan Resist Ice Cream launched in October 2018. (Ben & Jerrys)

Ben & Jerry’s statement did not explicitly identify the concerns that led to the decision, but last month a group called Vermonters for Justice in Palestine called on the company to “end complicity in the occupation.” and Palestinian human rights violations ”.

“How much longer will Ben & Jerry’s allow its Israeli-made ice cream to be sold in Jewish-only settlements as Palestinian land is confiscated, Palestinian homes are destroyed and Palestinian families are in neighborhoods like Sheik Jarrah?” are threatened with eviction to make way for the Jewish settlers? The organization’s Ian Stokes said in a June 10 press release.

Founded in Vermont in 1978, but currently owned by consumer goods conglomerate Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s has not backed down from social causes. While many companies tread lightly in politics for fear of alienating customers, the ice cream maker has taken the opposite approach, often espousing progressive causes.

Ben & Jerry’s took a stand against what it called the regressive policies of the Trump administration by renaming one of its flavors Pecan Resist in 2018, ahead of the midterm election.

The company said Pecan Resist celebrates activists who resist oppression, harmful environmental practices and injustice. As part of the campaign, Ben & Jerry’s said it is donating $ 25,000 each to four activist entities.

Associate Press contributed to this report.



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