No, Ben & Jerry’s can’t solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - opinion

This decision, lauded by many of Israel’s critics, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which for years has been pressuring Ben & Jerry’s to end its operations in Israel, may seem like a noble move in combating what many view as an inhumane occupation. But contrary to the ice-cream maker’s hopes, this misguided attempt to appease Israel’s detractors will do nothing to advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace. More importantly, in no way will it serve to benefit Palestinians.

The logic of boycotting Israel (be it the West Bank or Israel proper) rests on a simple assumption: that blame for Palestinian suffering rests solely on Israel, an oppressive entity with little regard for human rights. Therefore, in order to end the conflict and liberate Palestinians, Israel, akin to apartheid South Africa, must be isolated internationally until it is forced to submit to its detractors’ demands.

But there’s a major flaw in this logic: it’s ahistorical, hypocritical, and counterproductive.

To paint Palestinians as innocent victims of Israeli aggression is to engage in a lazy reading of an immensely complex issue. In doing so, one not only ignores the various Israeli peace offers that Palestinian leadership has rejected over the years, but it requires the denial (or even worse, the justification) of the vile antisemitic rhetoric rife in Palestinian society. Just in May, a Hamas official urged Palestinians to “cut off the heads of the Jews.” Hamas’s founding charter, no less, calls for the murder of Jews, while also blaming them for the French and Russian revolutions and both world wars.

And although Hamas may not be in power in the West Bank – where Ben & Jerry’s announced it will boycott – it was expected by many to win this year’s Palestinian elections (prior to their cancellation by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in what was widely viewed as a move to prevent a Hamas victory).

Not only does the ice-cream maker’s decision ignore simple historical facts, but in siding with BDS – the world’s leading advocate for boycotting Israel – it is lying in bed with utterly reprehensible groups. 

WHILE BDS describes itself as promoting “freedom, justice and equality,” a 2019 investigation found that its National Committee – comprised of 28 Palestinian organizations – includes Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Hamas’s even more extreme rival in the Gaza Strip), both of which are internationally recognized terrorist organizations.

And while Ben & Jerry’s may only be boycotting east Jerusalem and the West Bank (although reports suggest it initially intended on boycotting Israel in its entirety), in the ostensible hope that it will lead to an equitable solution for both sides, this partial boycott of Israel is of no interest to the BDS leadership. Omar Barghouti, one of BDS’ founders and a leading voice in the Israel boycott movement, explained in 2014, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine,” and “no... rational Palestinian... will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” Appallingly, he labeled any Palestinian who accepts Israel’s legitimacy “a sell-out.”

So no, BDS is not pro-peace. It has never accepted Israel’s right to exist, and although its supporters may suggest otherwise, it does not support a two-state solution. By lending BDS this victory, the leadership at Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever, are unwittingly joining forces in a battle against Israel’s very existence.

What this boycott will achieve, however, is the strengthening of Palestinian extremists. After all, the message is clear: You can spread as much hate, violence and antisemitic propaganda as you want, and we’ll continue to ignore your crimes while punishing Israel. So, too, will it cause Israelis to dig in their heels, having never reacted kindly to what they rightly perceive as unprovoked attacks on their existence.

Any individual, society or company has the right to boycott whatever, or whomever, they wish. And by all means, have at it criticizing policies of the Israeli government. But despite the Chinese-led genocide in Xinjiang and oppression in Hong Kong and Tibet, Syria’s butchering of its own people, and the myriad other human-rights atrocities currently unfolding across the globe, Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever identified Israel as the world’s sole nation worthy of boycott. We need to be asking serious questions about their reasoning and intentions.

There are many ways to approach the world’s most intractable conflict. Israeli, Palestinian and world leaders have yet to find the right way. But parochial decisions to boycott Israel, while giving free rein to the extremist elements that are far-too common in Palestinian society, only serve to perpetuate the conflict and Palestinian misery.