Palestinian Rights Activist Says Ben & Jerry’s Boycott Hurts HIS People

The New York Post reported Wednesday that a Palestinian human rights activist, Bassem Eid (pictured), has filed a complaint in New York that alleges Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel‘s “occupied territories” only increases strife in the region, rather than promoting peace.

From the report by Isabel Vincent:

“I, as a Palestinian, as well as many of my friends, family and other Palestinians, are regular shoppers at Gush Etzion commercial center … where we also frequent to eat ice cream,” said Eid in the complaint. Eid is a resident of Jericho in the West Bank.

 

“This shopping area is the true realization of coexistence, as both Jews and Muslims from both Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories … work and shop here,” he said.

 

Eid likened the boycott to the controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which many Jews have criticized as anti-Semitic. The complaint was filed under New York state’s Lisa Law that prevents New York businesses from engaging in anti-Israel boycott activity, said David Abrams, the New York-based attorney who filed the complaint on Eid’s behalf.

Eid called the promoters of BDS “gangters,” adding: “If they poured all of the money they are spending on boycotts into building factories and creating jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, it would go a long way to truly helping Palestinians.”

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Tags: anti-Semitism, Ben and Jerry's, Boycott Divestment and Sanctions, Israel, Palestinians, Unilever