The Vermont-based ice cream company, which has long been a supporter of left-wing causes, recently announced on its website that it is going to stop selling its ice cream in areas controlled by Israel in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The sales in the territories sought by the Palestinians are "inconsistent with our values," the announcement said. Ben & Jerry's opposes Israeli settlements and supports the Boycott Divestment Sanctions or BDS movement.
"I think we're going to see more and more of this as anti-Semitism gets ramped up, worse and worse all the time," predicts Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries and host of the "Understanding the Times" radio program. "Christians should stop buying Ben & Jerry's products if they're going to be ardent leftists, which they are."
She points out that the ice cream company has signed onto many leftist causes over the years, so their coming against God's covenant land now does not surprise her.
"The Bible says in the last days that two people who will be targets will be Christians and Jews, and right now we see that all over the world," Markell observes. "It's Christians and Jews who are being attacked, or at least being denigrated in some way, all over the world. So none of this surprises me. Christians need to get aware of what this BDS issue is all about. It's a terrible anti-Semitic effort."
Meanwhile, Israel has responded by calling on citizens to only buy locally-produced ice cream this summer.
