Peace, love & ice cream

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 violence they have been perpetrating against the Palestinians, mostly civilians, for about two years

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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.

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.