Ben & Jerry’s sweet protests in support of human rights
- Maxime Dekens
- Nov 24, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 28, 2021
July 19, 2021 Ben & Jerry’s announced in a statement through their website that sales of ice creams in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) would come to an end.
The intensified conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters has led Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield to take positions, deciding not to extend their licenses in those territories due to “incompatibility with the values of the brand” in an “internationally recognized illegal occupation zone”.
Israel has been quick to respond, accusing the brand of being anti-Semitic and making a morally wrong decision, demanding the United States to take legal action against the company.
Since the company was set up in 1978, the firm has been constantly positioning itself politically, being committed to the fight for human rights and economic and social justice, standing itself in favour of causes such as black lives matter or LGTBIQ +.
In recent years, Ben and Jerry’s have used the voice of the brand for their social activism to support justice creating different flavours of limited edition ice cream.
The chocolate, walnut and almond ice cream "Pecan Resist" was released in 2018 against the regressive agenda of former president and businessman Donald Trump. What's more. The company donated $ 25,000 of the profits to four organizations that led the opposition to the 45º president of the United States and that work in defence of black people, Native Americans and women: Color of change, Honor the Earth, Women's march and Neta.
In 2019, the chocolate and cinnamon ice cream “Justice ReMix’d” went on sale as a form of protest against a culture of white supremacy as a consequence of the murder of George Floyd due to police brutality.
The founders of the brand revealed that the idea of releasing these limited editions was to mobilize communities and stand together in the fight for protecting basic human rights and ensuring the progress that has been achieved over the last years. As Cohen and Greenfield once said “if we share values on climate, same-sex marriage rights, racism, we think that’s a deeper bond than sugar and fat”.
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Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/opinion/ben-and-jerry-israel.html?referringSource=articleShare
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/economy/israel-sends-note-of-protest-over-ben-jerrys-ban
https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy
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