My Problem with Ben and Jerry’s problem with Israel

I feel like I should have gained 10 pounds in the last 2 weeks just from hearing the words “Ben and Jerry’s. Ben and Jerry’s announced that they are going to stop selling their ice cream in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory”. Apparently since it is capitalized it is a recognized country and not just a descriptive term for land that is disputed.

I am not sure when this area became a country and what its borders are, but I imagine Ben and Jerry’s does. Does that mean that they will sell their ice cream on Ben Yehudah Street in Jerusalem, but not in the Jewish quarter of the old city, less than a mile away?

Does that mean that the supermarket in French Hill will not be able to sell the ice cream but a few hundred yards away on the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus the cafeteria will be able to feature the ice cream in a desert special?

I received 2 inquiries recently. One from a lover of Israel who does not agree with everything the Israeli Government does, but is bothered by the boycott of the product from the territories, and even more disturbed by the call to boycott Ben and Jerry’s in the US because Ben and Jerry’s are his primary food stuffs. Someone else asked about my thoughts on Ben and Jerry’s ( the actual Ben and Jerry) op ed in the New York Times. So here are my thoughts.

Ben and Jerry identify themselves as proud Jews. They have always been supporters of the State of Israel. They also don’t agree with all policies of the Israeli Government just as they are proud Americans who have not always agreed with the policies of the United State’s government. I can identify with them regarding both countries but not necessarily on the same issues. Disagreeing with the United State’s government does not make you a bad citizen or else I would have been a horrible citizen these last 4 years. The same is true for Israel where many Israelis disagreed with some or all of Bibi’s policies.

Ben and Jerry also believe that political activism is important and that choosing to,” halt sales outside Israel’s democratic borders” is not a boycott of Israel and the statement did not endorse the BDS movement. They further stated that, “we fundamentally reject the notion that it is anti-Semitic to question the policies of the State of Israel.” That is also true, and I agree, otherwise many of Israel’s citizens would be guilty of anti-Semitism. But now for the rest of the story.

Israel has on numerous occasions offered to negotiate a peace treaty that would involve returning most of the West Bank, (they already left Gaza years ago) and establishing in its place an independent Palestinian state that would not be a security risk to Israel. Each time such a deal was offered the Palestinians refused to accept it. Many of their leaders have publicly stated that they do not want a Palestinian state in the territories but rather a state that encompasses all of what is pre 1967 Israel. Others are more subtle and insist that any deal with Israel must allow for the many millions of the Palestinian diaspora to return as citizens to Israel. In short Israel can either choose to cease to exist as a Jewish state or they can be overwhelmed by a population that will outnumber them and be democratically voted out of being a Jewish state. Such an ask is unprecedented in the world except for those choosing to end the only Jewish state in the world. Ben and Jerry’s does not believe Jews have a right to self-determination.

If I have not made the case for why this ask is anti-Semitic, let me point out another inconsistency in Ben and Jerry’s stance that is clearly anti-Semitic. The West Bank is not the only disputed territory in the world. Cypress is divided into 2 parts one Greek one Turkish. That is a territorial dispute that continues. Where is the social justice commentary from Ben and Jerry’s? Even more so and more recent is Russia’s occupation of the Ukraine. Has Ben and Jerry’s mentioned it?

I checked and saw that Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is sold in China so how do they explain continuing to sell there after the ethnic cleansing of the Uighurs?

To disagree with Israeli policy is not anti-Semitic, to choose to withdraw sales in the territories while continuing to sell in other countries with oppressive policies or other disputed territories is anti-Semitic.

While Ben and Jerry’s and Ben and Jerry will have you believe they are not against the State of Israel it is interesting to note that the chairman of the advisory committee that makes the social justice policies for Ben and Jerry’s, Anuradha Mittal, is on record of being personally in favor of BDS. On Twitter in 2018 she tweeted, “The catastrophe continues#Nakba70 years later#palestine bleeds Boycott Divest Sanctions # israel”.

The catastrophe she is referring to is the establishment of a Jewish state as voted on by the UN and the establishment of a Palestinian state that never happened because Israel was invaded by 5 Arab nations and Palestinians were encouraged to leave and then reclaim all of Israel. Therefore, concern that this is just the first step is not unrealistic. The organization, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel, (VTJP)has pushed for this change of policy but they are not satisfied with the policy because it did not go far enough. They wrote,” By maintaining a presence in Israel, Ben and Jerry’s continues to be complicit in the killing, imprisonment and dispossession of Palestinian people and the flaunting of international law.” They are calling for Ben and Jerry’s to go full throttle into BDS.

The other subject that needs to be addressed is the call in the Jewish world and elsewhere to Boycott Ben and Jerry’s worldwide. I am not a big fan of boycotts. They are like swatting a fly with a mallet. You get the fly but destroy everything else in the mallet’s way.

In my first rabbinic position in Vancouver we had a lovely oneg Shabbat reception after the Friday night service. In addition to lovely pastries there were individual bottles of pop. We had different varieties of soda ( for those who don’t know what pop is ) but nothing that came from the Pepsi bottler. In 1976 Pepsi followed the Arab boycott of all of Israel and only coke was sold in Israel. In response my shule and others were boycotting Pepsi. I didn’t think much about it until I found out that the local bottler of Pepsi was an ardent Zionist and chairman of the Israel Bond drive for the city. The only person hurt by the shule’s boycott was a Zionist Jew.

Boycotts invented unintentional consequences. History is repeating itself right now. The franchisee owner of the Ben and Jerry’s shop on the Upper West Side of New York makes his living from the store. He is Jewish and had nothing to do with the company’s decision. He is suffering great financial loss. Shules schools and other organizations have cancelled orders. He is offering to donate 10% of his profits to Israeli causes. He is an innocent victim.

Rather than use a mallet I suggest using a scalpel. If you are on social media share some of what I have written. Write to Unilever at corporate offices and register your displeasure. All the Jewish boycotts won’t hurt Unilever, but bad publicity will. Also, if your state has laws against BDS contact your representative or your governor asking them to impose sanctions on Unilever for violating the state laws.

Share this with as many people as you can, and I can put my efforts into losing the 10 imaginary pounds.