Since the October 7 massacre, Anuradha Mittal, founder of the progressive think tank Oakland Institute, and the head of the board of directors of Ben & Jerry’s, has been an adamant pro-Hamas supporter, calling on Israel to stop its campaign against the murderous group. Here is one of numerous tweets she posted, this one on December 8:
Keep calling, Keep writing, Keep protesting
Keep using your voice for justice and peace!#CeasefireNOW Over 2 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza are living through genocide in real time, as Israel bombs, starves, and displaces them.TAKE ACTION: Call Congress. Tell them to…
— Anuradha Mittal (@Mittaloak) December 8, 2023
The Wiesenthal Center, known for its previous criticism of Ben & Jerry’s support for anti-Israel causes, renewed its objections to Mittal and Ben & Jerry’s over the tweet. On December 8, the Wiesenthal Center’s X account accused Ben & Jerry’s of “justifying” the October 7 massacre by Hamas and urged people not to spend a penny on their products. The tweet included a photo of Ben & Jerry’s Chairman Anuradha Mittal, who has been attacking Israel on her private account. The tweet was eventually deleted.
Enter Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, 81, born and raised in Jewish Brooklyn, NY, who until December 12 was on the Wiesenthal Board, is a board member at Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s parent company. According to the Wall Street Journal, Peltz resigned from his position at the Simon Wiesenthal Center after it called on people not to buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Nelson Pelz, Wiesenthal Center quarrel about pro-Palestinian tweet by Ben & Jerry’s Chairthing Anuradha Mittal, who is an Indian immigrant #DiversityIsStrengthhttps://t.co/oSzpHV3vqq
— VDARE (@vdare) December 23, 2023
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mittal said she expressed to Unilever her objection to the Wiesenthal Center’s tweet, claiming it unfairly targeted Ben & Jerry’s and caused her to feel unsafe. Even after the Wiesenthal tweet had been deleted, Mittal continued to receive hate emails, tweets, and LinkedIn messages.
Mittal raised concerns about Peltz’s dual roles on the boards of both Unilever and the Wiesenthal Center. She requested that the company investigate whether Peltz may have violated his fiduciary duty to shareholders, considering the center’s urging consumers to boycott Unilever products.
Before the tweet was deleted, Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the WJS that there was no call for an official boycott of Ben & Jerry’s, but insisted that his center had the right and obligation to call out business executives who do not “denounce mass rape of women, mass kidnappings, beheadings, holding children and the elderly hostage underground for seven weeks+.”
In 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it was withdrawing its franchise in Judea and Samaria, the Wiesenthal Center placed ads in Jewish-American newspapers calling on consumers to urge their local grocery stores to “stop selling antisemitic ice cream.” Unilever was on the Wiesenthal Center global antisemitism top 10 list for 2021.
