Jimmie Johnson: BEN AND JERRY’S IS CHURNING UP TENSIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
THE ICE CREAM ICONS SAY THEY WILL STOP SELLING THEIR PRODUCTS IN THE WEST BANK AND EAST JERUSALEM.
ON MONDAY, BEN & JERRY’S TWEETED, IT “WILL END SALES OF OUR ICE CREAM IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY.’
THE TWEET BLEW UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA, APPLAUDED BY THOSE WHO ARE OPPOSED TO ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST BANK, benAND WHO SUPPORT AN INDEPENDENT PALESTINE.
THE TWEET READ: THIS IS AN IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR THE MOVEMENT FOR PALESTINIAN FREEDOM. AFTER YEARS OF PRESSURE FROM PALESTINIAN ORGANIZERS, BEN & JERRY’S IS MODELING ONE WAY TO HOLD THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE OCCUPATION.
THE WEST BANK AND EAST JERUSALEM WERE CAPTURED BY ISRAEL IN THE 1967 MIDEAST WAR. SOME 700,000 ISRAELI SETTLERS NOW LIVE IN THE TWO TERRITORIES.
IN THIS PRESS RELEASE, THE ICE CREAM ICONS SAID IT WAS NOT BOYCOTTING ISRAEL, JUST THE “OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES.”
THAT’S MEANS LITTLE TO ISRAEL’S SUPPORTERS.
AIPAC, A PRO-ISRAEL LOBBYING GROUP, TWEETED: IT IS DISCRIMINATORY AND AGAINST THE INTERESTS OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION TO LAUNCH A ONE-SIDED BOYCOTT WHEN IT IS THE PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP THAT REFUSES TO COME TO THE NEGOTIATING TABLE WITH ISRAEL.
MANY ISRAEL SUPPORTERS QUESTIONED WHY BEN& JERRY’S IS TARGETING ISRAEL AND NOT COUNTRIES LIKE CHINA.
LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT BEN’S & JERRY’S BOYCOTT.