Ben & Jerry’s to stop doing business in the settlements

Ben & Jerry’s to stop doing business in the settlements

The Ben and Jerry’s company has decided to stop doing business in the settlements, while continuing to do business within Israel’s sovereign borders. While Partners for Progressive Israel does not support any form of BDS, Ben and Jerry’s public recognition of the Green Line between Israel and the occupied territories is a cogent reminder that the decades-long Occupation will not be wished away, neither by plaintive appeals to Biblical title, nor glitzy PR (hasbara) campaigns.

The occupation, a system that includes land theft, draconian limits on freedom of movement, home demolitions, arrests without trial and more, constitutes a system of oppression that violates human rights. It is undermining Israel’s morality and, ultimately, its own security, and, as the Ben and Jerry’s decision shows, the international community is growing visibly weary of its perpetuation and expansion without any sight of a political horizon.

July 20, 2021

Joshua Shanes in his Haaretz op-ed, Ben & Jerry’s Aren’t Nazis and their Settlement Boycott Isn’t Antisemitic poignantly adds:

“Rather than getting on the performative ‘slam Ben & Jerry’s’ wagon, pro-Israel opponents of the settlements should be celebrating any effort that emphasizes the distinction between the two regions, any effort that pressures Israel to end the settlement project while simultaneously legitimizing Israel within its internationally recognized borders. Some groups, such as Americans for Peace Now and Partners for Progressive Israel, are saying precisely this.”

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