In July of 2021, Ben & Jerry’s made the controversial decision to end the sale of its products in what they referred to as “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
This overtly anti-Israel decision sparked a widespread outcry against the corporation. The ramifications included divestment from its parent company Unilever by several states, including Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. The move also resulted in the Chair of Ben & Jerry’s being voted “Antisemite of the Year” by the watchdog StopAntisemitism.
Despite the backlash from customers, corporations, states, employees, and franchise owners, Ben & Jerry’s continues to stand un-repentant, doubling down on their bias against Israel.
The Jewish Insider reported Monday that Ben & Jerry’s is now requiring all new employees to watch a lecture denouncing the Jewish State as part of their training.
According to the employees who reviewed the video, the four-hour “Scooper Series: Social Mission” presentation discussed “racism in the U.S. and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” JI documented.
Featured in the video was Omar Shakir, a Palestinian activist who reportedly advised Ben & Jerry’s Board on their 2021 decision to pull their product from Judea and Samaria.
Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, a US-based Non-Government Organization. In April of 2021, HRW released a report accusing Israel of apartheid, committing crimes against humanity, and calling on the United Nations to introduce sanctions on the Jewish State.
During the Ben & Jerry’s lecture, Shakir tells new employees that Israel is responsible for the multi-day terrorist barrage of 4,300 Palestinian rockets toward Israeli civilians. The “escalation” he claims started as a result of “discriminatory efforts” by Israel “to force Palestinians out of their homes in occupied East Jerusalem…”
He further asserted that Israel’s current policies aim to restrict Palestinian movement in the hopes of “remov[ing] the large Palestinian population in Gaza — off Israel’s demographic balance sheet.”
The area Shakir referenced as “occupied East Jerusalem” is a neighborhood north of the Old City in Jerusalem called Shimon Hatzaddik. According to residents, who describe the neighborhood’s history in an article published to Jerusalem Post, Shimon Hatzaddik is “a traditionally Jewish territory, with historical significance to the Jewish people” that “was violently conquered and settled by foreign Arabs, and is now being reclaimed by rightful Jewish owners” after “Israel retook the area in 1967.”
It is no surprise that Ben & Jerry’s has continued to spread Palestinian propaganda to justify its actions to new employees. Following the 2021 backlash, the company stated that it was “proud of its action and believe it is on the right side of history,” citing an anti-Israel report from the United Nations to back its decision. They further referred to the move as “brave” and “one of the most important decisions the company has made in its 43-year history.”
Behold Israel, a Christian Ministry based in Israel, responded at the time to the company’s founders, explaining that, in reality, Ben & Jerry’s has placed themselves on the wrong side of both history and God.
“One can make a stronger case that if you are seeking the ‘right side of history,’ you would recount what took place for the Jewish people before the nation of Israel was reborn in 1948,” they wrote. “If you’re trying to make a fact-based decision, you’d acknowledge that the international community took action to put the Jews back in the land.”
“There is no question that there is a global, spiritual aspect to this entire scenario,” Behold Israel emphasized. “That being said, what the Lord spoke to Abraham thousands of years ago continues to maintain its relevance: Genesis 12:3, ‘And I [God] will make of thee [Israel] a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’”
Jan Markell, the messianic Jewish founder and president of Olive Tree Ministries, stressed that “Christians need to get aware” of the antisemitic BDS movement.
“I think we’re going to see more and more of this as anti-Semitism gets ramped up, worse and worse all the time,” Markell said. “Christians should stop buying Ben & Jerry’s products if they’re going to be ardent leftists, which they are.”
“The Bible says in the last days that two people who will be targets will be Christians and Jews, and right now we see that all over the world,” she explained. “It’s Christians and Jews who are being attacked, or at least being denigrated in some way, all over the world. So none of this surprises me. Christians need to get aware of what this BDS issue is all about. It’s a terrible anti-Semitic effort.”
