The recently announced decision by ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s to boycott the West Bank and East Jerusalem has unleashed a storm of controversy — including the possibility that some U.S. states will sanction the company in accordance with anti-BDS laws. In addition, Israeli nonprofit group Shurat HaDin Law Center has declared its intention to produce and sell a copycat brand of ice cream under the name “Judea and Samaria’s Ben & Jerry’s.” (“Judea and Samaria” is the traditional Jewish name for the West Bank.) A court battle over the Ben & Jerry’s trademark is likely to result. Ben & Jerry’s is owned by corporate giant Unilever.
Quote: “[Shurat HaDin Law Center] is already in talks with several ice cream makers to produce a Ben & Jerry copycat product, complete with the same black and white cow grazing on the packaging under a blue sky, said Shurat HaDin’s president and author of the letter, Nitsana Darshan Leitner. And she plans to operate ice cream parlors under the well-known brand. ‘We’ll copy them,’ said Leitner. A judgment on whether Ben & Jerry’s is legal from Judea and Samaria could be in a few weeks, added Leitner.”
Sources: Wikipedia and Jewish Telegraphic Agency (introduction), Financial Freedom and Education (quotation)
Learn more about Ben & Jerry’s from Wikipedia. ►
Watch “Ben & Jerry’s Israel CEO says ‘I refuse’ ice cream ban decision’ ” [2:35]. ►
Read “Ben & Jerry’s withdrawal from Israel creates potential trademark dispute” Note: The headline is misleading: Ben & Jerry’s has not said it is withdrawing from all of Israel. ►
Read “5 states are considering sanctions on Ben & Jerry’s after West Bank pullout” ►
Photo: New York Post
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