Peace, love & ice cream

Many readers of The Statesman, like me, must have visited “Peace, Love & Ice Cream” outlets of Ben & Jerry’s in the USA or elsewhere. “Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts but in relation to real events happening in our world,” wrote co-founder Jerry Greenfield. On 18 September 2025, he wrote a resignation letter “with a broken heart” stating that he could “no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s.”

More about the resignation later. However, as Greenfield has said, Ben & Jerry’s “was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world.” Since 8 October 2023, we have been waking up every morning to read in the newspapers about scores of adults and children having been killed in Gaza. It all began on 7 October 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. That was one of the worst tragedies inflicted on Israel; the largest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust.

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At least 40 nations immediately and publicly expressed their unequivocal condemnation of Hamas. India also strongly condemned the terror attacks. Acts of violence inflicted on citizens of Israel by Palestinian groups ~ PLO, Fatah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and many other groups ~ have gone on for far too long for anyone to hold patience. Such acts of violence should be condemned in no uncertain terms. The massacre of 7 October 2023, is abominable. However, the retaliatory action by Israel that has gone on for almost two years has also become unbearable. The brutal offensive pursued by the Israeli army on Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians to date. About 200,000 have been wounded; many are suffering without being able to get adequate medical attention because hospitals have been razed to the ground. Women and children make up two-thirds of the dead and injured. About 200,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

There is acute scarcity of food and drinking water. On 22 August 2025, United Nations agencies (FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) released a joint analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) which confirmed that famine is currently occurring in Gaza. More than 500,000 people are already trapped in these famine conditions. The U.N. agencies have repeatedly called for immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to curb deaths from hunger and malnutrition. In a landmark report released on 16 September 2025, the United Nations has made a historic legal determination that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.

Many have protested against the use of the word ‘genocide.’ It may be noted that the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition. It was the first legal instrument to codify genocide as a crime and the first human rights treaty unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948, and has 153 state parties as of February 2025 including Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that Israeli forces carried out four of the five genocidal acts defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention: mass killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions aimed at destroying the Palestinian population, and measures intended to prevent births.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave, which many believe, will be bolstered by the conclusions of the Commission. The United States has been an ally of Israel. However, defying global concerns, including that of the U.S., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to “strike Hamas leaders anywhere.” On September 9, they hit Doha ostensibly targeting leaders of the Palestinian militant group, which was a significant escalation of Israeli military action in the region. This action infuriated Qatar, a co-mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Although Israel has indicated that operations could be halted if a ceasefire was reached, the prospects of a ceasefire now seem remote.

Even as the heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit to back Qatar after Israel’s attack, Netanyahu has said that he did not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders “wherever they are.” As of now, a combination of infantry, tanks and artillery are advancing, backed by the air force, to seize Gaza’s main urban centre. The French Foreign Ministry has issued a statement condemning this intensified offensive; “France calls on Israel to end this destructive campaign, which no longer has any military rationale, and to resume negotiations as quickly as possible with a view to a ceasefire and the release of all hostages.” “Ben & Jerry’s believes in human rights and advocates for peace, and we join with those around the world who denounce the genocide in Gaza,” the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement. “We stand with all who raise their voices against genocide in Gaza – from petition-signers to street marchers to those risking arrest.”

Why then did Jerry Greenfield resign? The global giant Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 for $326 million. At the time, Ben & Jerry’s said the partnership would help the progressive ice cream company expand its social mission. But the relationship between Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s has eroded because Unilever has taken measures to silence Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield from their progressive social actions. “Standing up for values like justice, equity, and shared humanity has never been more important, yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced and sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.” Most of us would agree with what Jerry Greenfield wrote in his resignation letter: “It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk.

The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.” But most of us do not “stand up and speak out” because of fear of losing something. We must speak out against terrorism inflicted on Israel by groups such as Hamas, and we must speak out against Israel for the inhumanitarian violence they have been perpetrating against the Palestinians, mostly civilians, for about two years. A recent statement signed by over 100 NGOs, including Amnesty International, HelpAge International and Médecins Sans Frontières, stated: “Piecemeal arrangements and symbolic gestures, like airdrops or flawed aid deals, serve as a smokescreen for inaction.

They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.” We should all stand up and sing: I got a hammer, and I got a bell I’ve got a song to sing all over this land It’s the hammer of justice, it’s the bell of freedom It’s a song about love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land.

(The writer, a former National Science Chair, Government of India, is Distinguished Professor, John C. Martin Centre for Liver Research & Innovations and Emeritus Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)