JFNA's response to Ben & Jerry's announced boycott in support of BDS:
"Boycotts do not advance the peace process. Jewish Federations call on Ben & Jerry's and Unilever to reconsider this decision."
This courageous declaration took the form of a Tweet. OK, to its credit JFNA announced that it is working behind the scenes to assure that states with anti-BDS legislation enforce these laws and regulations against the ice cream company's idiotic position. And is all that we want a "reconsideration?" And all that the constituency got....a Tweet? Who did JFNA fear at Unilever?
I have written my local groceries demanding that they discontinue the sale of Ben and Jerry's. I have written the conglomerate owner of Ben & Jerry's, Unilever, urging action to reverse this perverse stance. I urge you to do the same. (I imagine there is someone in management at Unilever wondering "did we get into this mess for ice cream?") As Gristedes owner observed: "They politicized ice cream."
Jewish Federations have laid claim (or want to) that they/we are leading the battle against the scourge of rising anti-semitism. Great for them but, if true, then they/we must let our umbrella organization, JFNA, and its leaders know that this...Tweet...was totally inadequate and unworthy.
Rwexler
A FOB suggested this message from Endowment for Middle East Truth as a counterpint to Ben & Jerry's assault on Israel and truth:
ACTION ALERT: How to Respond to Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever
Endowment for Middle East Truth
Date: July 26, 2021
Contact: Sarah Stern
(202) 601-7422
Ben and Jerry’s, an ice cream company that prides itself on its “woke,” progressive politics announced last week that it intends on cancelling its distribution and sale in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, or the West Bank.This comes after 11 days of the terrorist group, Hamas, raining rockets down on Israeli cities and residential communities and Israel’s highly successful attempt to protect its civilian population, while attempting to avoid collateral damage within Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Hamas cynically places its military production facilities and its operational bases near civilian areas. It should be made clear that an element of Hamas’ strategy has always been to use “human shields,” to intentionally maximize civilian deaths of their own population in order to demonize Israel with the claim of “disproportionality."
Israel has gone out of its way to avoid the loss of civilian life. In fact, even according to Mathius Schmale, the Director of UNRWA’s mission in Gaza (an organization not known for its profound love of Israel), Israel’s airstrikes were “very precise,” and they “didn’t hit, with some exceptions, civilian targets.” This was a statement for which he had to resign from his position and quickly get out of Gaza for fear of his life.
According to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, every nation has the responsibility to protect its civilian population. We know that if a terrorist group rained rockets on the United States from Canada or Mexico, we would not hesitate to respond in a manner similar, if not more aggressive, as Israel did.
Yet, according to the progressive agenda, what Israel did was considered “disproportionate."
This reeks of a duplicitous double standard used to judge Israel, which would never be used against any other nation. It is meant to demonize and delegitimize the state of Israel. This is what lies at the very core of anti-Semitism.
Ben and Jerry’s is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever, who, despite the rather anodyne comments of CEO Alan Jope, both the parent company and subsidiary are open to legal action because of laws already on our books.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Anti-Boycott compliance, within the Bureau of Industry Compliance, Part II of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, as well as certain anti-boycott provisions set forth in part 760 of the Export Administration Regulations, “These authorities discourage, and in some circumstances, prohibit U.S. companies from taking certain actions in furtherance or support of a boycott maintained by a foreign country against a country friendly to the United States (unsanctioned foreign boycott).”
As they write on their own website, “The anti-boycott provisions of the EAR encourage, and in specific cases, require US persons to refuse to participate in unsanctioned foreign boycotts. They have the effect of preventing U.S. persons from advancing foreign policies of other nations that run counter to U.S. policy.”
It is vital that your representatives and senator understand that what Ben and Jerry’s is doing, and what its parent company, Unilever, is feebly trying to distance itself from, is a violation of federal US Anti-Boycott Act.
Unfortunately, Palestinian Legal has made this into a First Amendment issue. This has nothing to do with freedom of speech or the ability to express one’s ideas. This has everything to do with the discriminatory boycott of a product to one designated place on the globe, the state of Israel.
There also have been 33 states that have signed their own anti-BDS laws. If your state is one of them, please call your Governor’s office, thank them for doing so, and politely inform them that now is the time to begin legal proceedings. If they have not, please call your Governor and politely insist that they sign state anti-BDS legislation. For a list of which states have signed the anti-BDS laws and your Governor’s phone number, please contact us at EMET at (202) 601-7422.
And on the federal level, it is time that every member of Congress understands that this is not a free speech issue, but a boycott of a product against one specific country. Please call your member of Congress at (202) 224-3121 and let them know that what Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever are attempting to do may be in violation of US law and that immediate action, including a thorough investigation of the origin’s of this boycott and any Palestinian influence and/or involvement in the policy, is called for to eradicate this mission of hate towards Israel and the Jewish people."
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11 comments:
The Federation system is just feckless. They are mobilizing the world with a tweet.
The establishment Jewish community is being left in the dust behind State governments that needed no prodding to stand up for Israel vocally and evangelicals.
Meanwhile, well meaning individuals and corporations worldwide are making statements, not just NYC-area supermarket chains:
“El Rosado Group, which owns one of the largest supermarket chains in Ecuador with more than 180 stores around the country, has taken the decision to withdraw from all its businesses all ice cream manufactured by Unilever.”
“Unilver also maintains corporate offices in numerous human rights-abusing countries, including China, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Unilever is reportedly a major purchaser of tomato paste from state-owned factories in China's Xinjiang region, where the U.S. State Department says China is engaged in "horrific abuses." In January 2021, the U.S. government halted the import of all such tomato paste into the U.S., citing the use of forced labor that amounted to "exploiting modern slavery." Yet neither Unilever nor Ben & Jerry's appears to have ever taken action against China's massive human rights violations in Xinjiang.”
“Furthermore, Unilever cannot hide behind its merger agreement to claim its hands are tied by Ben & Jerry's independent board. Such an agreement cannot legally require Unilever to violate state or federal laws and thus put the company and its shareholders in jeopardy. Doing so—as it appears Unilever has—opens the company to potential shareholder litigation.”
Ben & Jerry respond:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/opinion/ben-and-jerry-israel.html?
But it’s Vermont cool to sell their wares in Saudi Arabia or China, to name a few.
Slave labor of Uyghers, not a problem in Vermont. Killing dissidents in the KSA, yo bro.
And let’s recall, their “independent board” originally wanted to ban Ben & Jerry’s from all of Israel, not just beyond the Green Line.
Only Unilever management’s unilateral overruling of this board with no legal authority stopped that.
I will leave the substantive issues of why boycotts, even if just of the territories, makes little intellectual sense and is in violation of US Federal law as Richard’s amended post made clear.
Should we consider posting a list of other products that Unilever owns? Just in their food brands there are four very well known brands besides Ben & Jerry's. I'm not suggesting we boycott these products but perhaps people should be aware and make their own decisions.
To anon 8:07 Please do post them to help educate this audience
But, more importantly, let’s address the post’s original point.
Where is JFNA? Where is the ADL? Where is the Conference of President’s?
They are tweeting and writing polite little letters while the Israeli Foreign Ministry is in full gear worldwide, governors in five states so far are making threats of divestment and Evangelicals and non-Jewish store owners are following suit.
Shouldn’t these organizations be leading the charge, not following with press releases in the rear?
In this environment, where reporters condoned antisemitic behavior as explainable by the actions in Gaza, shouldn’t we be even more vigilant in guarding against very visible actions by very well known brands, that will serve as a further shield for institutionalized antisemitism?
Are they afraid of being called out by their most progressive Jewish peers?
Rather than list the few brands, here's the link to all the brands of Unilever. Many of them are more popular outside the US (and may not even be available in the US). Anyone that wants to know the brands can search by category as well - food, household products, etc. all under the Unilever name.
Can you believe this?
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/us-news/kof-k-announces-not-withdrawing-its-ben-jerrys-certification-but-does-it-while-singing-hatikvah/2021/07/27/
Kof-K Announces Not Withdrawing Its Ben & Jerry’s Certification,
“Omar Barghouti, a BDS leader, declared, “We expect more socially responsible companies to follow suit, perhaps less publicly.”
And more companies may follow suit — especially if the Jewish community doesn’t launch an aggressive and prolonged counter controversy aimed at Ben & Jerry’s and parent company Unilever.”
“ Most companies will do an analysis of their economic and political interests to determine whether submitting to the BDS movement is in their interests. Without pro-Israel pushback, companies may follow suit and divest from Israel — not because they agree with the BDS movement, or harbor antisemitism, but because they hate controversy.”
“ There should be no hesitation, no fear about antisemitism — which will exist regardless of whether the Jewish community exerts influence or sits quietly. There should be no slicing and dicing of BDS by Jewish organizations focused on battling with Israel over the settlements; the goal of BDS is to rid the world of Israel, and the settlements are just a stepping stone. There will be time for difficult conversations about the conflict, but now is the time to respond to the prolonged campaign of economic warfare aimed at Israel.”
“ as much as one may hide behind admonitions of truth, justice, and the gods of history, BDS remains what it is: a racist, antisemitic, genocidal movement that believes Israel has no right to exist and wishes to engineer that non-existence. A movement, moreover, which quite openly uses Judea and Samaria as the thin end of the wedge to eventually dislodge Israel in its entirety. To boycott Israel or Israelis — let alone their holiest sites — helps legitimize this, whether one likes it or not.
In other words, despite Ben and Jerry’s self-serving and self-congratulatory claims, this is not a question of whether one can criticize Israel without being antisemitic. The principle they cite is not what is at stake. What is at stake is the right of the Jewish people to exist … in Israel”
https://nypost.com/2021/07/29/sorry-ben-jerry-youre-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-along-with-all-who-boycott-israel/
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