Palestinian human-rights activist sues Ben & Jerry's

Palestinian human-rights activist Bassem Eid filed a complaint in New York state recently against Ben & Jerry’s over the ice-cream maker’s decision to boycott Israeli territories.

Eid filed the complaint last month with New York State’s Division of Human Rights against Conopco Inc., the U.S. division of Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, reported the New York Post.

Eid alleged in his complaint that Ben & Jerry’s announcement in July to stop selling its products in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and parts of Jerusalem is “counterproductive to peace and creates only more hatred, enmity and polarization.” The activist was born in eastern Jerusalem and lives in Jericho in the West Bank.

“I, as a Palestinian, as well as many of my friends, family and other Palestinians, are regular shoppers at Gush Etzion commercial center … where we also frequent to eat ice-cream,” said Eid in the complaint. “This shopping area is the true realization of coexistence, as both Jews and Muslims from both Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories … work and shop here.”

Speaking to the Post from his home in Jericho, Eid further criticized the “gangsters” behind the BDS movement against Israel who are “causing a lot of damage to the Palestinians.”

“If they poured all of the money they are spending on boycotts into building factories and creating jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, it would go a long way to truly helping Palestinians,” he said.

Eid added that Unilever has “aided and abetted” Ben & Jerry’s actions by “its refusal to overturn the boycott.”