‘Squad’ Member Taunts Israel After Ben & Jerry’s Targets Jewish State

On Tuesday, Missouri Democratic Rep Cori Bush, a member of the “Squad” (Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jamaal Bowman), members of which have continually voiced their hostility toward the state of Israel, taunted the Jewish state after the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s announced they would no longer sell ice cream in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria.

Bush gleefully tweeted, “I know where I’m getting my ice cream today. Who’s coming with?”

I know where I’m getting my ice cream today. Who’s coming with? https://t.co/IyD1Bb05RP

— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) July 19, 2021

Ben & Jerry’s issued a statement on Monday that read:

We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners. 

We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year.

Although Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we’re ready.

“The anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement gained momentum during the recent two-week battle between the Israeli military and Hamas in Gaza — boosted in part by Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of St. Louis. Bush has been outspoken in her support of the movement …” the St. Louis Post- Dispatch reported in late May.

Earlier that month, the St. Louis Jewish Light wrote, “U.S. Rep. Cori Bush’s staff has refused to grant the St. Louis Jewish Light an interview with the Democratic lawmaker.”

On May 6, Bush said Israel had “brutalized Palestinian residents from an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood, Shimon Ha-Tzaddik, also known as Sheikh Jarrah, tweeting, “I know what it’s like to be brutalized for simply advocating for my own humanity. I stand in strong solidarity with our Palestinian siblings mobilizing to #SaveSheikhJarrah.”

On May 10, she tweeted, “As someone who has been brutalized by police, I continue to stand in strong solidarity with Palestinians rising up against military, police, and state violence. Congress must stop funding human rights abuses by the Israeli military.”

But the history of the area does not jive with the Palestinian representation of the story, as noted by Michael Wise, whose mother was born in the area in 1921:

The Jewish presence in Sheikh Jarrah centered on the tomb of Shimon Ha’Tzadik, who met with Alexander the Great and convinced him not to destroy the Second Temple. In 1876, the cave and adjoining land — planted with 80 ancient olive trees — were purchased by the Jews for 15,000 francs. Dozens of Jewish families built homes on the property.

The Turkish Ottoman census of 1905 counted 97 Jewish families living there. In spite of the so-called “Arab revolt” of the 1930s, when some Jewish families were uprooted, it remained a Jewish neighborhood until 1948 when the Jewish residents were driven out by the Jordanian army, and their homes were occupied by Arabs.

Wise pointed out that in 1970, Israel ruled that Jews could reclaim their lost property. In 1972, the Sephardic and Knesset committees of Israel said they purchased the land and built houses in Shimon Ha-Tzadik in 1885; in 1976, the court agreed and filed eviction notices. In 1991, Arab residents were granted a tenant status until 2009 as long as they paid the rent.

In 2009, after the Arabs had not paid rent, the Jerusalem district court ruled Arabs should be evicted; Jewish families moved into two homes.

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