Unilever freezes Ben & Jerry's directors' salaries in anti-BDS move

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Aug 2022 12:45
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Unilever's moral compass does not allow Ben & Jerry's to take a stance against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Unilever has been pressuring Ben & Jerry's to make 'moral' concessions towards illegal West Bank settlements.

Ben & Jerry's independent board revealed that Unilever, its parent company, had frozen the directors' salaries in July as a form of pressure to allow the ceding of the company to an Israeli businessman, which would also essentially force the company to sell its ice cream in the occupied West Bank.

Ben & Jerry's decision in July 2021 to stop ice-cream sales in the occupied West Bank comes after a BDS campaign to pressure the company over its business in "Israel". In response, Unilever took the decision to sell the company to an Israeli businessman, Avi Zinger after Israeli attempts to coerce Ben & Jerry's ended in a stalemate.

Last month, the ice cream company filed a complaint against Unilever in an attempt to block the conglomerate's decision to sell the business to Zinger, which would allow the company to sell its ice cream in the occupied West Bank in illegal Israeli settlements.

"This decision for us to go to court is because of Unilever's sale without our input, which is a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of our original acquisition agreement with Unilever," said Anuradha Mittal, the chairperson of the board, in an interview.

"If Unilever is willing to so blatantly violate the agreement that has governed the parties' conduct for over two decades, then we believe it won't stop with this issue.

"If left unaddressed, Unilever's actions will undermine our social mission and essential integrity of the brand, which threatens our reputation and ultimately our business as a whole," she added.

Unilever did not respond to requests for comment from Israeli daily Ynet.

Although Ben & Jerry's and Unilever tried to reach a deal outside court walls, they notified a federal court on Monday that no deal was made.

Ben & Jerry's will be holding a hearing on Monday, August 8, to demand the blocking of the sale.

The confrontations look into just how far Unilever is willing to go to provide space for its brands' freedom to embark on social missions.

The Israeli occupation's latest round of approving the expansion of illegal settlements came in mid-May, with "Tel Aviv" advancing plans for 4,427 illegal settlement units for settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The expansion of settlements has been taking place in the West Bank since 1967, despite occupied Palestine and the majority of the world decrying the illegitimate process.

Settlement expansion surged under former occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and during Trump's administration, with former PM Naftali Bennett being the former head of a settlement lobby himself. Bennett's government claimed it had different plans than Netanyahu's but follows similar policies.

About half a million Israeli settlers live in the occupied Palestinian territories, with many more even wanting to move there, Elhayani added, not taking into consideration the rights and needs of the Palestinians as they uproot them from their lands.