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9 Aug, 12 tweets, 2 min read

THREAD:
Confused about the Ben & Jerry's news? Here's what you need to know:

Ben & Jerry's will no longer allow its ice cream to be sold in Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The company said doing so was inconsistent with its values.

According to the company, Ben & Jerry's will not renew its licensing agreement when it expires at the end of next year, which means that their licensee will not be manufacturing and selling Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in any part of Israel.

But what about the company statement, which says "Although Ben & Jerry's will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement"? According to media reports, the statement was not approved by the majority of the board.

Only the company's board has authority over social mission and brand integrity, not parent company Unilever, and not founders Ben Greenfield & Jerry Cohen.

Backlash immediately followed the announcement. Israel's president called Ben & Jerry's decision “a new kind of terrorism,” and Israel's prime minister Naftali Bennet threatened Unilever.

Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid planned to call on U.S. state governments to punish Ben & Jerry's using unconstitutional anti-BDS laws. Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan sent a letter to 35 U.S. governors urging them to take action.

U.S. officials have also joined in. Elected officials in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Texas have slammed Ben & Jerry's decision and are threatening consequences, including making the company and parent company ineligible for investment.

https://twitter.com/Mittaloak/status/1422251352109948943?s=20

Ben & Jerry's independent board chair Anuradha Mittal has received a barrage of racist and misogynistic threats. She tweeted:

https://twitter.com/Mittaloak/status/1422251352109948943?s=20

The bottom line: Ben & Jerry's decision is unprecedented. It's the 1st big American company to take such a strong public stance in support of Palestinian rights. Once the licensing agreement expires, the company will no longer be complicit in Israel's oppression of Palestinians.

But Israeli politicians and some U.S. politicians want to make an example of Ben & Jerry's so other companies won't follow their lead. This is an infringement on Americans' First Amendment rights.

Ben & Jerry’s is not alone. More and more Americans support Palestinian freedom.

Boycotts are a time-honored and constitutionally protected social justice tactic and Palestinians have the right to call for boycotts when their freedom is denied.

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10 Aug

@Milbank

THREAD: Dana @Milbank has published a piece in the Washington Post baselessly accusing Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib, along with the BDS movement, of antisemitism. Here is a list of everything he gets wrong:

1) Milbank goes after Tlaib for calling Israel’s policies “apartheid” & “racist.” But Tlaib’s description is not only 100% accurate, it’s also shared by anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, & documented by renowned human rights groups like Human Rights Watch: hrw.org/report/2021/04…

2) Noting the shared struggle of the oppressed around the world, Congresswoman Tlaib said that the powerful, from Gaza to Detroit, exploit the poor & the oppressed for profit. Without a shred of evidence, Milbank suggested she was talking about Jews. She wasn’t.

Read 10 tweets

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@theIMEU

21 Jul

THREAD: Israeli Spyware Targets Activists & Journalists

A new investigation conducted by 17 news outlets revealed that Israeli surveillance company NSO Group’s software has been used to spy on journalists, activists and politicians around the world.

NSO Group is an Israeli spyware agency started by Israeli military veterans. The company’s “Pegasus” program targets cell phones and turns them into a walking spy device: a phone’s contacts, conversations and messages are all swept up by the program.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense must approve all NSO Group exports, making the Israeli government complicit in the hacking and surveillance of civil society activists around the world.

Read 9 tweets

IMEU

@theIMEU

19 Jul

THREAD: Ben and Jerry’s decision on Israeli occupation: Here’s what you should know.

Ben & Jerry’s will no longer sell its ice cream products in stores in illegal Jewish-only settlements built on stolen Palestinian land.

The move comes in response to a years-long campaign by Palestinians and their allies to pressure Ben and Jerry’s over its complicity with Israeli apartheid.

Read 4 tweets

IMEU

@theIMEU

19 Jul

On Sunday, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and attacked Palestinian worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque. Afterward, hundreds of Jewish pilgrims entered the Aqsa compound, under the protection of heavily armed Israeli police.

Photos via Reuters.

This comes days before the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha. Palestinians fear that Israeli extremists are using the visits to Al-Aqsa to exercise greater and more direct control over the Noble Sanctuary.

Since 1967, Israel has occupied East Jerusalem, allowing Israeli settlers to take Palestinian homes and displace Palestinian families,

Read 4 tweets

IMEU

@theIMEU

17 Jun

THREAD: Israel’s government is filled with ministers known for anti-Palestinian racism. Here’s a look at their hateful and violent views:

👇👇👇👇👇

Prime Minister: Naftali Bennett
“I’ve killed lots of Arabs in my life—and there’s no problem with that.” (July 2013)

Foreign Minister: Yair Lapid
“We need to get the Palestinians out of our lives. What we have to do is build a high wall and get them out of our sight.” (Dec 2016)

Defense Minister: Benny Gantz
Boasted of bombing Gaza back to “stone ages” in a TV ad. (Jan 2019)

Read 7 tweets

IMEU

@theIMEU

14 Jun

THREAD: Naftali Bennett is now Israel’s Prime Minister

That means one thing: the deadly status quo of Israeli apartheid will continue, even without Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm.

While the face of Israel is different, both Benjamin Netanyahu and Bennett agree on entrenching Israeli apartheid.

Think of the change from Netanyahu to Bennett as Ted Cruz replacing Donald Trump.

Bennett is a far-right religious nationalist who once led the Israeli settler movement, is opposed to a Palestinian state but supports unilateral Israeli annexation and once boasted, “I’ve killed lots of Arabs in my life, and there’s no problem with that.”