Stand up to bullies by supporting Ben & Jerry’s

I am proud of Ben & Jerry’s for refusing to sell its ice cream in the Israeli Occupied Territories. The Israeli lobby, the ardent Zionists, have for decades been bullying Americans into accepting Israel’s flagrant disregard for Palestinian humanity. They’ve done this largely by shouting “anti-semite!” at anyone who would stand up for Palestinian human rights, who would in any way criticize Israel. Not surprisingly, this has been their kneejerk response to the Ben & Jerry’s decision — the company is engaged in a “disgraceful capitulation to antisemitism” — and urged on by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they are now boycotting Ben & Jerry’s, aiming to punish them in the pocketbook. (Both Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are Jewish-american, by the way, but to Zionist fanatics, that just makes them “selfhating Jews,” traitors to their own people.)

I suspect that for the American public, these constant, flimsy accusations of anti-semitism directed at critics of Israel (and usually having no basis other than that criticism) are wearing thin; their attempts to portray today’s Middle East as a replay of World War II and the Holocaust are increasingly falling flat. People, including a growing number of Jewish-americans, no longer buy it.

My advice: Go into Ben & Jerry’s and buy yourself an extra scoop. Enjoy your delicious ice cream, and as you do, be happy that you’re standing up to a bunch of bullies, supporting human rights and, in a small way, making America and the world better places.