Ben & Jerry’s co-founder to launch Palestine-themed ice cream on his

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder to launch Palestine-themed ice cream on his

One of the lefty co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s is making a Palestine-themed sorbet on his personal after guardian company Unilever allegedly blocked the ice cream large from releasing the taste.

Ben Cohen claimed Tuesday that Unilever and its spinoff Magnum Ice Cream Company had “stopped Ben & Jerry’s from creating a flavor for Palestine.”

“So I’m doing what they couldn’t,” he said as he squashed watermelons into juice in a video posted on X. “I’m making a watermelon-flavored ice cream that calls for permanent peace in Palestine and calls for repairing all the damage that was done there.”

Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen handing out free ice cream during a get-out-the-vote tour for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Getty Images for MoveOn

Watermelons have turn into an emblem of Palestinian solidarity – showing on indicators at protests and in social media comments – since the fruit’s purple, inexperienced, black and white colours match those on the Palestinian flag.

Cohen requested supporters to submit ingredient and pint design solutions, saying the winner “gets their flavor made and design printed.”

A spokesperson for the Magnum Ice Cream Company said members of the model’s impartial board instructed a taste to honor Palestinians over the summer season, however the board shouldn’t be liable for Ben & Jerry’s “commercial strategy.”

“Recommendations are considered by Ben & Jerry’s leadership, and Ben & Jerry’s management has determined it is not the right time to invest in developing this product,” the spokesperson told The Post.

It added that Ben & Jerry’s is concerned in other political campaigns, like advocating for improved refugee lodging in the UK and protection of free speech in the US.

Ben & Jerry’s didn’t reply a Post request for remark.

The Palestinian sorbet snafu is the latest in a drawn-out battle between the liberal founders of Ben & Jerry’s – a Vermont-based company identified for funky flavors like Phish Food and Chunky Monkey – and Unilever.

Tensions began to brew in 2021, when the ice cream company announced it could cease sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Unilever responded by promoting off Ben & Jerry’s license for the area.

Since then, Cohen and co-founder Jerry Greenfield have accused the guardian company of muzzling the model’s lefty politics. 

A lady holds a watermelon-shaped signal that says “Free Palestine” during a march in Argentina in August. REUTERS

In November 2024, the impartial administrators of Ben & Jerry’s filed a lawsuit accusing the guardian company of gagging the ice cream maker from talking out in assist of Palestinian refugees. 

In a courtroom submitting, the board also accused Unilever of abruptly firing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever without giving board members an opportunity to interview substitute candidates. Stever began as a tour information for the Ben & Jerry’s manufacturing unit in Waterbury, Vt., in 1988.

The board claimed it was excluded from the appointment technique of new CEO Jochanan Senf – a Dutch Unilever exec – because of its political activism.

The company’s ability to keep an impartial board was a key a part of the settlement by Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 to be acquired by Unilever.

Cohen and Greenfield offered Ben & Jerry’s to Unilever in 2000 for $326 million. Adriana – inventory.adobe.com

In latest posts on X, Cohen has been urging his roughly 95,000 followers to write to Magnum’s CEO and board.

He just lately famous that the authorities shutdown, which has delayed IPOs including Magnum’s, provides them “a real shot to free Ben & Jerry’s.”

Earlier this yr, when Unilever announced it could spin off its ice cream unit, the company made clear it has no intention of promoting Ben & Jerry’s – despite a bid from Cohen and Greenfield.

The duo, childhood mates from Long Island, NY, created Ben & Jerry’s in 1978. They later offered the model to Unilever for $326 million.

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