The state of Illinois will divest from the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s over the ice cream company’s decision to stop selling its product in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the Illinois Investment Policy Board voted to divest pension funds from the British conglomerate Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000. Illinois is the fifth state to punish Ben & Jerry’s on Israel’s behalf, following New York, New Jersey, Arizona, and Florida.
Illinois is one of over 30 US states that have laws against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS activists call for global boycotts to pressure Israel for its crimes against the Palestinians.
When Ben & Jerry’s first announced the settlement ban that takes effect at the end of 2022, Israel began urging US governors of states with anti-BDS laws on the books to enforce them against the ice cream company. Reports at the time said Israel launched a “maximum pressure campaign” to get Ben & Jerry’s to reverse its decision.
The states that have taken action against Ben & Jerry’s claim the company is “boycotting Israel,” but the ban only applies to settlements. Ben & Jerry’s will continue selling its product in Israel, and its founders have said the move is not a boycott of Israel.
Disclosure: Antiwar.com has received donations in the past from Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen
Picked up a nice chunk of Unilever shares at a sweet discount. Thank you.
sounds like a good tip.Thank you!
Given this kind of treatment they really should consider pulling out of Israel altogether. But mainly they should hire David Boise and file suit in federal court against all 30 states with laws damaging their trade, and all the groups that lobbied them.
Remember the Arab Boycott and Jimmy Carter singing into law fines imposed on companies that would not trade with Israel? I mean the United States of America is a joke, the people are not free and sovereign, just dumb.
Yes, thanks, very similar and even more un-Constitutional.
But for a thoroughly capitalist empire to damage itself where it lives (ie, its mega corporations) to service the needs of a nation of 9 million without any prospect of gain in power or profit seems to me to signify only one thing, … and of much greater significance than the impotence and ignorance of the American public.
“Damaging trade”, Company does not want to deal with Israel,pension fund does not want to deal with company-sounds like freedom to me.
I don’t care for ice cream but will definitely buy Ben & Jerry’s.
May help explain a bit better. Illinois Governor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Pritzker
ILL staying on the right side of AIPAC err God. Nice separation of church and state. /s
“Disclosure: Antiwar.com has received donations in the past from Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen.” Another reason to buy Ben & Jerry’s!