Israel Boycott Loons Turn on Liberal Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Ban Based on False Claims

TEL AVIV – Anti-Israel students at an exclusive NY college proposed a ban on the consumption of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream due to the ice scream mavens’ supposed support of apartheid via its “contractual relationship with an Israeli franchise.”

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activists at Vassar College proposed a resolution prohibiting student organizations from serving the ice cream at student functions, based on the false claim that Ben & Jerry’s conducts business in Israel’s disputed West Bank territories.

According to the resolution, “Ben & Jerry’s continues to tie its franchise to these illegal settlements. In short, while apartheid ensues in historic Palestine, Ben & Jerry’s ‘peace & love’ ice cream continues to pass through Israeli checkpoints, and be transported on Jewish-only roads to be sold in Jewish-only settlements.”

The American libertarian magazine, Reason, published a sarcastically-toned article claiming that despite their liberal politics, Ben & Jerry’s are actually “in cahoots with the Zionists.”

“I scream, you scream, we all scream because it never stops,” the article concluded.

However, a statement from the ice cream giants disputed the Vassar students’ accusations, claiming it had “no economic interest in the occupied territories.” The company categorically denied accusations that it operated business facilities in disputed regions.

“The manufacturing facility and two scoop shops are located outside the occupied territories, just south of Tel Aviv,” the statement said.

Ben & Jerry’s is just as famous for its history of liberal values and supporting progressive causes as it is for its ice cream. The company even named a new flavor after Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Ben & Jerry’s also said that its corporate U.S.-based organization does not retain any profits from its business in Israel. The company even donates 100% of its Israeli operator’s net licensing fee “to foster multicultural programs and values-led ingredient sourcing initiatives in the region.”

Nonetheless, Vassar students are just the latest college group to join the campaign aimed at vilifying the ice cream makers.

Student groups from several universities across the U.S. had previously signed a letter to Ben & Jerry’s CEO Jostein Solheim demanding her company stop all business operations in Israeli settlements – operations that do not exist. The letter accuses Ben & Jerry’s of being “a corporate beneficiary of Israel’s military and economic domination.”