Ben & Jerry’s on July 19 announced it would stop selling its ice cream in “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” This was a turning point for the Vermont-based company, as the move to boycott Jewish “settlements” was the first time Ben & Jerry’s acted in a tangible manner against Israel.
While the decision to stop doing business in the West Bank came as a shock to many, Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of partnering with groups dedicated to ending Israeli sovereignty through their involvement in the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
However, media organizations such as The New York Times and The Washington Post that covered the Ben & Jerry’s story for the most part cloaked BDS in social justice terminology — and thereby obfuscated the movement’s ultimate goal: namely, the destruction of the one and only Jewish state.
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NYT, WaPo Ignore True Nature of BLM-BDS Connection
On the same day as the announcement, The New York Times published an article titled, “Ben & Jerry’s to Stop Selling Ice Cream in Israeli-Occupied Territories,” which described the connection between the ice cream company and Black Lives Matter:
With that, an unabashedly political company that over the years has embraced the Black Lives Matter and criminal justice reform movements also appeared to offer support to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to apply economic and political pressure on Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.”
The purported goal of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement could not be nobler: that is, eradicating racism and combating senseless violence by law enforcement personnel. However, a small subset of activists with antisemitic and anti-Israel agendas have to some extent hijacked BLM.
The NYT is seemingly unaware of this.
Notice how BDS is depicted as little more than a Palestinian lobbyist group, while nowhere in the piece is the vehemently anti-Israel agenda pushed by its proponents noted. In reality, BDS aims to delegitimize the Jewish state by isolating it as a pariah among nations and disseminating the myth that the IDF commits human rights abuses, with the conclusion being that Israel has no right to exist.
As such, the notion that the root of the dispute is “Occupied Palestinian Territory” is false:
Definitely most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, a rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, would ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” – Omar Barghouti, co-founder, BDS
The real aim of BDS is to bring down the State of Israel…this should be stated as an unambiguous goal.” – As’ad AbuKhalil, California State University Professor of Political Science, BDS leader and activist
Related Reading: BDS Myths and Facts
The Washington Post (WaPo) also weighed in on July 19 and similarly failed to connect the dots between BLM and BDS:
The day after, a group called Decolonize Burlington, based in the same Vermont town as Ben & Jerry’s, demanded an international boycott of the local ice cream manufacturer and accused it of hypocrisy for not speaking out on Israel the same way it had about refugee rights, global warming and the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Again, BLM is included in a list of popular causes such as ‘refugee rights’ and ‘global warming.’ The fact that BLM has called for an end of US military support for Israel, which it refers to as an “apartheid state” that is perpetrating genocide against the Palestinian people, is missing from WaPo’s coverage.
Black Lives Matter stands in solidarity with Palestinians. We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation. ( always have. And always will be ). #freepalestine
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) May 17, 2021
The above post was quickly picked up and shared widely by proponents of the BDS movement.
‘Progressive’ Except When It Comes to Israel: IfNotNowWhen, Jewish Voice for Peace…and J Street
Indeed, BLM took partial credit for Ben & Jerry’s decision to boycott Jewish communities in the West Bank.
However, the group is not alone.
Several other organizations that simultaneously support “progressive causes” have also backed the ice cream company’s move:
IfNotNowWhen, a blatantly anti-Zionist organization that recently recited the Mourner’s Kaddish (Jewish prayer for the dead) for Palestinian terrorists killed in the recent Israel-Hamas conflict had this say about the boycott:
The Israeli government’s response to the Ben and Jerry’s settlement boycott doesn’t make a distinction between the West Bank and Israel because for decades the Israeli government’s policy hasn’t made a distinction between the West Bank and Israel. It’s de-facto annexed.
— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) July 21, 2021
And then there is Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which supposedly represents fringe elements of American Jewry. JVP’s hostility towards the Jewish state is made crystal clear on the organization’s website: “…guided by a vision of justice, equality and freedom for all people… we unequivocally oppose Zionism because it is counter to those ideals.”
You’ve seen opponents of Palestinian freedom having public meltdowns about @benandjerrys.
Behind the scenes, they’ve dispatched Israeli government-backed “troll armies” to intimidate B&J into reversing its decision.
Let’s counter them by showing our support on social media! pic.twitter.com/2XzdQmoqsj
— JVP #SaveSheikhJarrah #SaveSilwan (@jvplive) July 22, 2021
Even J-Street, a self-described ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ advocacy group that is on record as unequivocally opposing the BDS Movement, seemingly had an about-face. The organization came out in favor of Ben & Jerry’s decision. J Street has even started a petition to ‘Protect Ben & Jerry’s Right to Oppose the Occupation.’
At least some of these groups played a role in motivating Ben and Jerry’s to announce its boycott.
Related Reading: How BDS Spreads Its Anti-Israel Agenda
Ben & Jerry’s Boycott Blind Spot?
The ice cream company’s close connection to organizations that question Israel’s right to exist did not develop overnight. In 2018, local media reported that one of the groups that benefited from the proceeds of sales of a new dessert was the Women’s March, led by Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, both of whom have backed boycotts of the Jewish state.
Mallory is also a known supporter of the rabidly antisemitic Nation of Islam.
Nothing is creepier than Zionism.Challenge racism, #NormalizeJustice. Check out this video by @remroum http://t.co/q282BYT8
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) October 31, 2012
In 2017, the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation gave some $80,000 to the Oakland Institute. Of that amount, thousands were earmarked for the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, which is dedicated to destroying Israel through the “right of return.” BADIL co-sponsored the 4th Annual Al-Awda Award in 2010 for posters, papers and caricatures. The second place award for caricatures, with a cash prize, went to this blatantly antisemitic cartoon:
Ben & Jerry’s board chair Anuradha Mittal is the founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute. Mittal has a history of supporting anti-Israel causes. She helped author the Oakland Institute’s “Palestine for Land & Life,” a series containing nine different reports accusing Israel of apartheid, colonialism and land-grabbing.
While Ben and Jerry’s doesn’t explicitly call Israel a “racist” or “apartheid” state, it is affiliated with groups whose goal is the Jewish state’s dissolution. Somehow, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other prominent news organizations missed this crucial detail.
As such, people turning to these outlets for information are not being told the truth about the ultimate goal of the BDS movement that has helped facilitate Ben & Jerry’s boycott.
Joshua Beylinson, Summer 2021 HonestReporting intern, contributed to this article.
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