A graphic designer who spent 21 years working for Ben & Jerry’s told Israel’s Channel 2 Radio on Tuesday that the ice cream maker’s board consulted with a prominent BDS activist before issuing a decision to join the international Boycott, Divest & Sanctions economic war on Israel.
Susannah Levin resigned from the company last month over the decision by the Ben & Jerry’s board not to renew its license for the Israeli franchise to ensure the termination of sales of the product in Jewish areas of Judea, Samaria and large parts of Jerusalem.
The Ben & Jerry’s board met with the Amman-based Israel-Palestine director of Human Rights Watch — Omar Shakir — a major BDS activist who has accused Israel of “crimes against humanity.”
Levin said the board based its decision on information gleaned from a 213-page Human Rights Watch report released on April 27, 2021, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” written by Shakir. The report claimed Jewish Israelis are repressing Palestinian Arabs and “are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations and United States Gilad Erdan denounced the report, saying it was filled with “lies and fabrications, bordering on anti-Semitic.” The report’s conclusion was also rejected by the Biden Administration as well.
“Omar Shakir spoke directly to the board,” Levin told Channel 2. “They believed him to be a valid source of information about Israel.”
In 2019, Shakir was deported from Israel due to his activity in pressuring various companies – such as Airbnb — and international organizations to join anti-Israel boycotts against homes and businesses in disputed areas of the Jewish State.
After the board’s decision to terminate sales of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Jewish communities located in post-1967 areas of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Levin handed in her resignation.
“I knew that my job was over,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t going to work there if they were going to [boycott Israel]. I worked for this company for so long, and they were like family to me.
“To think they would really join up with people who hate Israel so much, it’s a terrible feeling,” Levin added.
Ben & Jerry’s declined to comment on the allegation of Shakir’s involvement with its board, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Human Rights Watch did not respond to a request for comment.