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Ben & Jerry's sues Unilever to block sale of Israeli business
cnn ^ | July 6, 2022 | Michelle Toh

Posted on 07/06/2022 4:58:57 PM PDT by MarvinStinson

Ben & Jerry's is suing its parent company in an attempt to cancel the sale of its business in Israel to a local partner that would continue to distribute its products in the West Bank.

The ice cream maker filed a complaint in the US District Court in New York, where it sought an injunction against Unilever (UL) "to protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry's has spent decades building."

Ben & Jerry's has been doing business in Israel since 1987, but in recent years it had come under pressure for selling in West Bank settlements, considered illegal under international law. In July 2021, it announced it would stop selling in the West Bank altogether.

That triggered a dispute with its longtime distributor in Israel, which sued Ben & Jerry's and Unilever in March, arguing they were "unlawfully terminating its 34-year business relationship in order to boycott Israel."Unilever tried to draw a line under the controversy with its announcement last week that it had sold Ben & Jerry's Israeli business for an undisclosed amount to AQP.

The retail giant said that going forward, Ben & Jerry's would be sold under its Hebrew and Arabic names throughout Israel and the West Bank.

But that decision to sell to AQP took the board of Ben & Jerry's by surprise, according to its court filing, which said that its chair had been "stunned" to hear the news. Since 2021, Ben & Jerry's has been fiercely opposed to the sale of its products in the West Bank, saying that it would be "inconsistent with" the brand.

In its complaint Tuesday, it noted that its brand values are legally overseen by an independent board of directors under a 2000 agreement with Unilever.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Israel; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: again; bds; benjerrys; bidenvoters; israel; stunned; unilever; unitedkingdom; waronterror
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In a statement last week, Unilever acknowledged that "Ben & Jerry's and its independent board were granted rights to take decisions about its social mission." But it maintained that the parent company "reserved primary responsibility for financial and operational decisions, and therefore has the right to enter this arrangement." In a new statement Wednesday, a Unilever spokesperson reiterated that it "had the right to enter this arrangement." "The deal has already closed," the representative said, adding that it would not comment on pending litigation. In its statement last week, Unilever said that it had conducted a review of its business there "over several months, including with the Israeli government."

"Unilever has used the opportunity of the past year to listen to perspectives on this complex and sensitive matter and believes this is the best outcome for Ben & Jerry's in Israel," it added.

1 posted on 07/06/2022 4:58:57 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
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To: MarvinStinson

Why would a couple of old Jewish fags not want their product in the motherland?


2 posted on 07/06/2022 5:18:05 PM PDT by farming pharmer (fork you :(){ :|:& };:)
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To: MarvinStinson

Assuming for the moment that Ben and Jerry’s is still owned/run/managed by Jewish people, what does it say about Jews who so hate themselves and their own people that they would go so far out of their way as to sue to stop their products from being sold to other Jews?


3 posted on 07/06/2022 5:21:31 PM PDT by JewishRighter
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I can see BJs point. After all, the muslims enslaved, raped, murdered and pillaged Israel fair and square


4 posted on 07/06/2022 5:32:52 PM PDT by dsrtsage ( Complexity is just simple lacking imagination)
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To: JewishRighter

https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/how-were-structured


5 posted on 07/06/2022 6:04:18 PM PDT by Piranha
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To: farming pharmer

Simple, just fire the Managment of the junior company.


6 posted on 07/06/2022 6:12:56 PM PDT by WMarshal (Neocons and leftists are the same species of vicious rat.)
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To: MarvinStinson

Who cares? If Unopened wants to sell a business, I don’t think they should ask the founders (or the heirs) if they can. F B&J...


7 posted on 07/06/2022 6:44:52 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (I'm the one trying to save American Democracy...Donald Trump 6/5/21 at the NCGOP convention)
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To: Deplorable American1776

Ben & Jerry hatred is something I do not understand.


8 posted on 07/06/2022 7:24:47 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: minnesota_bound

It’s stylish in the leftwing.


9 posted on 07/06/2022 8:07:17 PM PDT by MarvinStinson
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To: farming pharmer

Because they are leftists, who hate Israel


10 posted on 07/06/2022 8:32:16 PM PDT by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers." )
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To: MarvinStinson

Ben & Jerry sold to Unilever many years ago for $800 million. They are spoiled, brain-dead losers who have zero influence.


11 posted on 07/06/2022 9:14:19 PM PDT by Falconspeed ("Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." Robert Louis Stevenson.)
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To: farming pharmer

Does a US court have jurisdiction over a case like this?
I would think they’d have to file in Israel.


12 posted on 07/06/2022 9:21:39 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: farming pharmer

Is there some kind of treaty that disallows the sale of ice cream in Jewish communities in the West Bank?

I assume it’s OK to sell ice cream in Muslim communities in the West Bank?


13 posted on 07/06/2022 9:25:04 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: scrabblehack

Even so, if there’s a treaty being violated that’s between the treaty signatories and the seller not between B&J and the seller.


14 posted on 07/06/2022 9:26:53 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: JewishRighter

“ Ben & Jerry’s has been doing business in Israel since 1987, but in recent years it had come under pressure for selling in West Bank settlements, considered illegal under international law. In July 2021, it announced it would stop selling in the West Bank altogether.”


15 posted on 07/06/2022 9:44:12 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

Poor Ben and Jerry. They never intended Zionists to eat their ice cream.

16 posted on 07/07/2022 5:54:18 AM PDT by SJackson (nations that are barren of liberties are also barren of groceries, Louis Fisher)
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To: farming pharmer

Their religion is liberalism, not Judaism.


17 posted on 07/07/2022 6:49:07 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (My body, my choice....but not when it comes down to unconstitutional "vaccine" mandates.)
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To: MarvinStinson

No problemo. I’ll refrain from getting sick from their overly sugared, overpriced crap, and they can get their shekels elsewhere.


18 posted on 07/07/2022 7:01:44 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (All Hail the MAGA King, beloved of Ultra MAGAs and Deplorables!)
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To: july4thfreedomfoundation
Their religion is liberalism, not Judaism.

Absolutely right.
19 posted on 07/07/2022 7:20:37 AM PDT by farming pharmer (fork you :(){ :|:& };:)
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To: JewishRighter

I thought the fat guys who started it finally died.


20 posted on 07/07/2022 8:39:46 AM PDT by Jewbacca (The residents of Iroquois territory may not determine whether Jews may live in Jerusalem.)
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