Ben & Jerry Break Their Silence to Say They’re ‘Proud’ of Company’s West Bank Boycott

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s say they are “proud” of the company they founded in 1978 sold to Unilever in 2000, and “believe it is on the right side of history” in deciding to stop selling its products in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories.” They also rejected accusations that the company’s decision is anti-Semitic. In a guest essay in The New York Times published on Wednesday, Cohen and Greenfield, who no longer have any operational control of the company, said that it was “possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies.” The men noted that in the acquisition agreement they signed with multinational corporation Unilever, the company retained an independent board of directors “with a responsibility to protect the company’s essential brand integrity and to pursue its social mission.” This structure, they said, “is the magic behind both Ben & Jerry’s continued independence and its success.” And here we thought it was the Chunky Monkey.