Welcome to the mudroom, a joint commentary series of Rumblestrip Vermont and the Dooryard.

Today, a commentary about occupied territories and ice cream.

Israel has been a very substantial recipient of U.S. foreign aid since the state's inception.

According to Mark Hage, Israel is also the recipient of some of Vermont's finest ice cream, which is sold in Israeli settlements.

Do Vermonters have a social responsibility to rally against Ben and Jerry's presence in

the occupied territories?

Welcome.

Being critical of Israel is a sure-fire way to make enemies.

Being critical of Ben and Jerry's in Vermont,

for not being progressive enough, may compel your friends to question your sanity.

The company's corporate identity after all is anchored to its peace and love ice cream,

an iconic social mission, and support for progressive causes and organizations.

But when it comes to Israel's occupation of Palestine, Ben and Jerry's

ruptures that admirable history and breaks faith with its social mission.

In 2013, Vermonters for a just peace in Palestine Israel revealed

that Beninjeri's franchises in Israel is selling ice cream and catering parties

in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The ice cream is made in Israel, but the contract with the Israeli franchise was written by corporate officers in South Burlington, not by Unilever, Beninjerry's parent company.

We called on the company to end its franchise's complicity with the settlements.

To date, thousands of individuals and 233 solidarity organizations in 32 U.S. states and the

23 Solidarity Organizations in 32 U.S. states and the District of Columbia

and in 17 nations worldwide have endorsed this call.

...