PA hails Ben & Jerry’s boycott as ‘moral and legal’

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday praised as “legal” and “moral” the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its ice cream products over the 1967 Green Line.

Several Palestinians hailed the decision as a “great gift to the Palestinian people on the occasion of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.” They expressed hope that other companies and countries would follow suit and halt all dealings with the settlements.

“This decision is consistent with the rules of international law, and the company respects human rights, principles and ethics by refusing to deal with the illegal and immoral colonization system that Israel entrenches in the land of the occupied state of Palestine, through racist policies and complex crimes, such as the seizure of land, theft of Palestinian resources, arrests, field executions, and forced displacement,” the PA Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The PA called on companies working directly or indirectly with settlements to take similar positions and “stop their dealings and businesses immediately and not to engage in any business with illegal entities such as Israeli settlements.”

The PA called on all countries to ensure that their companies respect international law and do not do any business with settlements.

The PA expressed its appreciation to the companies that “took courageous, moral, and legal positions and stopped their dealings with the Israeli colonial system.”

It said that the Palestinians will do everything they can, through the rules of international law, “to hold accountable those who still insist on violating the rights of our Palestinian people, including those who finance and encourage Israeli settlements, which are considered a war crime and a crime against humanity.”

The PA warned Israel against its “practice of blackmail and bullying” the companies that support the boycott of the settlements.

“The State of Palestine will stand firmly against these Israeli campaigns, which are part of the widespread and systematic criminal system, and will do everything in its power to dry up the sources of illegal settlement, in accordance with the principles and values of human rights, and the guidelines for business and human rights, issued by the Council Human rights, and other international resolutions, especially Security Council resolutions,” the PA cautioned.

It also called on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to update the database of companies working with settlements to ensure that they abide by international law.

PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yusef said that the Palestinians welcome any decision by any company to boycott the settlements.