Axios reports Israel has formed a special task force designed to “create long-term pressure on Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s by consumers, politicians, and in the press and social media.” The initial efforts of that campaign appear to have already started.
Ben & Jerry’s historic decision not to sell in occupied territories, and the fragile, response from Israeli leaders and their American enablers shows: The long-anticipated “tsunami” of international delegitimization of Israel has begun. And the dream of an Israeli F.W. De Klerk– the politician who leads the country away from apartheid — is a fantasy.
Michael Arria talks with Vermonters for Justice in Palestine member Wafic Faour on how the group’s grassroots campaign to pressure Ben & Jerry’s led to the company’s groundbreaking announcement this week. “There’s one direction we’re going in. We are struggling against an apartheid regime and we saw what happened in South Africa,” Faour says. “If we continue working and educating the public and these leaders continue with their incoherent messaging, we will win.”
Ben & Jerry’s announced it will stop selling ice cream in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements and The Only Democracy in the Middle East™ (and a number of its supporters) responded by going ballistic.
Jewish organizations’ reflexive opposition to the Ben & Jerry’s decision not to sell in occupied territory, because it strengthens BDS and is somehow “antisemitic,” shows that being Jewish means being ‘anti-Palestinian’. These organizations have constructed a Jewish identity, theology and ethics around the denial of Palestinians to peacefully protest and call for global solidarity. Thankfully, there are pro-BDS alternatives in Jewish tradition.
Meretz represents the far left of Israeli politics and even its leader says even he buys settlement products. This more than anything shows the overwhelming Israeli political consensus behind the settlements.
On Monday Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Israeli government has promised to fight the move “with all our might” and ask every state in the U.S. to target the company. Palestine activists say the move is yet another sign of how BDS is entering the mainstream.
Despite what it knows and the values that define its corporate identity, Ben & Jerry’s refuses to stop the Israeli franchise from making money in Israeli settlements. Therefore, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel say it’s time for a boycott.
The second annual Free Cone Day leafleting action at Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops on Tuesday, April 8, organized by Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel, was a great success.
Members of Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel leafleted hundreds of passers-by in front…