Ben & Jerry’s slams parent company, saying selling its ice cream in the West Bank is ‘against its values’

Last year Ben & Jerry’s board said it would stop selling its ice cream in annexed East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, saying sales in areas coveted by the Palestinians were “inconsistent with our values.” The settlements are widely viewed by the international community as illegal and a threat to peace.

Consumer goods giant Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, announced earlier this year that it would sell its interest in Israel to a local company that will sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream under its Hebrew and Arabic name throughout Israel and the West Bank would sell .

The independent board of Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement Tuesday that the sale of Unilever was made without board approval and all of Blue & White Ice Cream Ltd. Products sold “should not be confused with products manufactured and distributed by Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc..”

“Ben & Jerry’s position is clear: selling products bearing Ben & Jerry’s insignia in the occupied Palestinian territory is contrary to our values,” the statement said.

An email sent to London-based Unilever was not immediately answered on Tuesday, but the company has said in the past it has the right to the sale and has said the deal is done.

The 2000 acquisition agreement allowed Ben & Jerry’s board of directors to make decisions about the company’s social mission, but stipulated that Unilever would have the final say on financial and operational decisions.

In August, a federal judge denied Ben & Jerry’s request to thwart a plan by Unilever to sell its products in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. The judge said Ben & Jerry’s failed to demonstrate that Unilever’s decision would harm Ben & Jerry’s social mission or confuse its customers.