Ben & Jerry’s launched a new ice cream Tuesday called Pecan Resist. “This flavor supports groups creating a more just and equitable nation for us all, and who are fighting President Trump’s regressive agenda,” the company said in a statement.
So how is Ben & Jerry’s going about this effort? By partnering with an organization that refuses to distance itself from an open anti-Semite.
In announcing its latest flavor, the ice cream company said profits will support the Women’s March. The group is “committed to harnessing the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change,” Ben & Jerry’s said.
The trend of “woke” companies partnering with and supporting far-left activist groups is hardly news, given it happens every other day under President Donald Trump. But the timing of Ben & Jerry’s partnership is troubling, coming on the heels of what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in American history.
We are proud to announce that our newest flavor, Pecan Resist, supports the important work of @netargv, @womensmarch, @ColorOfChange, and @HonorTheEarth. Join them here >> https://t.co/b7mu4tVPYE pic.twitter.com/8fFJ6vL3vF
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) October 30, 2018
Three of the four founders of the Women’s March have close ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an open anti-Semite who they refuse to denounce.
Conservatives have long warned of the troubling ties of the Women’s March to one of America’s leading anti-Semites, but those concerns mostly fell on deaf ears. The best we got is a deep dive into the group’s relationship with Farrakhan in The Atlantic—a news source people on the left might actually be willing to listen to.
“Mass movements are sewn together from a wide variety of sources, so they often sweep in unwanted companions as they move toward their goals. No one, however, expected to discover that three Women’s March co-chairs—Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory—had ties to Farrakhan,” John-Paul Pagano wrote. “More mysterious and disturbing was the extended reluctance of the Women’s March, nearly a year since it became public, to acknowledge Farrakhan’s extremist views and disassociate themselves from them.”
Some of us (naively) thought that after a gunman killed 11 Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory would finally issue a statement renouncing their ties to a man who, while addressing the annual Nation of Islam gathering Feb. 25 for Saviours’ Day, said: “White folks are going down, and Satan is going down, and Farrakhan by God’s grace has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew—and I’m here to say, your time is up.”
But instead, they announced a “vigil” outside Trump’s residence, the White House, to protest anti-Semitism.
Today we are turning our grief to action with @jewishaction to send a clear message that these anti-semitic and xenophobic attacks can never happen again.
If you’re not in DC, tune in around 3pm to our Facebook page to watch and share the livestream. https://t.co/14dQE6plY6— Women's March (@womensmarch) October 28, 2018
The extent to which Sarsour, Perez, and Mallory have gone to avoid denouncing Farrakhan is well documented, most recently by The Daily Wire.
In one example, when asked why the Women’s March didn’t denounce Farrakhan’s comments, Perez told Refinery 29: “In regards to Minister Farrakhan, I think that is a distraction. … People need to understand the significant contributions that these individuals have made to black and brown people. There are no perfect leaders.”
It’s true that there are no perfect leaders—that’s something I hope even our current president would admit. But everyone should be able to recognize the difference between an imperfect leader and a man who compares Jews to “termites.”
The Women’s March isn’t alone in its moral shortcomings. In forging its new partnership with the Women’s March, Ben & Jerry’s is complicit in supporting an anti-Semite.
When asked directly about the Women’s March connection with Farrakhan, a spokeswoman for Ben & Jerry’s told IJR that the company is “comfortable” partnering with the organization. The connection isn’t disgusting, racist, or problematic, she said, just “controversial” and a “point of view different from our own.”
The Ben & Jerry’s statement to IJR in full:
We’re comfortable with the idea that the people and the causes we partner with may have a point of view different from our own on some issues. They can be controversial, just as we can. Linda may not agree with everything we’ve done. But the work that she has done to promote women’s rights, as co-chair of the Women’s March, is undeniably important and we are proud to join her in that effort.
Dismissing anti-Semitism as “a point of view different from our own” is insulting to the 11 people who lost their lives over the weekend in the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh. Describing anti-Semitism as merely “controversial” does the opposite of eradicating it—it normalizes it.
Until the Women’s March fully severs its ties with an anti-Semite, I, for one, plan to do exactly what the latest Ben & Jerry’s flavor instructs: Resist. Because no amount of pecan ice cream can sweeten that amount of hate.