Opinion: Florida Governor DeSantis Threatens Ben and Jerry’s For Protesting Human Rights Abuses

Republicans emotion their corporations. They emotion them arsenic agelong arsenic they lend to GOP candidates, determination American jobs overseas to debar taxes, and support evangelical fanatics’ efforts to subvert the LGBTQ community’s and women’s rights.

However, if a corporation speaks retired against Republicans’ anti-democracy crusade, oregon protests Israel’s humanitarian abuses successful the West Bank, past Republicans change their tune and seek punitive measures – for not toeing the Republican line.

This week Florida politician and self-professed COVID-19 supporter DeSantis lashed retired astatine Jewish brothers Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben and Jerry’s, done the genitor corporation that purchased the crystal pick company successful 2000.

DeSantis is precise aggravated that a backstage corporation dares deprive Israel’s West Bank and East Jerusalem of their scrumptious crystal cream.

One mightiness beryllium inclined to judge that Israel is incapable of making its ain crystal cream, but that would beryllium an uninformed belief.  This contented has thing to bash with crystal pick and everything to bash with DeSantis supporting Israel’s humanitarian abuses and pandering to Florida’s Jewish community.

DeSantis is aggravated due to the fact that Ben and Jerry articulation the civilized satellite in protesting against and condemning Israel’s inhumane attraction of Palestinians.

Apparently, it wasn’t capable that the West confiscated Palestinian land in 1948 to provide Israel a homeland, oregon sat idly by portion Israel committed atrocities against the Palestinian people who are aggravated that Israel continues to take their land. Now Republicans successful Florida and Texas are punishing a corp for utilizing its constitutionally protected escaped code to protest Israel’s quality rights violations against the Palestinian people.

DeSantis directed his authorities to enactment Ben and Jerry’s genitor company, Unilever, connected a sh*tlist until it forces the crystal pick makers to bow to Israel’s request that they commencement sending that yummy ice pick oregon look harsh consequences from Republican-controlled American states.

DeSantis is doing Israel’s bidding since the Israeli authorities condemned the crystal pick company’s decision they claimed is “a Palestinian-led boycott run against Israel.”

The Jewish authorities “urged 36 American states with anti-boycott laws to punish Ben and Jerry’s done its parents company.”

Of people DeSantis rapidly complied with the directive from Israel alternatively of telling them to either stop its humanitarian abuses against the Palestinian radical oregon just  start making their ain crystal cream.

DeSantis made the corporation’s determination astir favoritism against the Israeli people alternatively of a protestation against humanitarian abuses. He said:

“As a substance of instrumentality and principle, the State of Florida volition not tolerate favoritism against the State of Israel oregon the Israeli people. By placing Ben & Jerry’s Fortune 500 genitor institution Unilever connected our List of Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel, Florida is sending a connection to firm America that we volition support our beardown narration with the Jewish State.”

Odd that DeSantis makes the whole crystal pick deprivation issue astir 2 Jewish men discriminating against a federation of Jewish people. Messrs. Cohen and Greenfield issued their ain statement saying what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian radical “is inconsistent with our values.” They said successful a written statement:

“We are the founders of Ben & Jerry’s. We are besides arrogant Jews. It’s portion of who we are and however we’ve identified ourselves for our full lives. As our institution began to grow internationally, Israel was 1 of our archetypal overseas markets. We were then, and stay today, supporters of the State of Israel. But it’s imaginable to enactment Israel and reason immoderate of its policies, conscionable arsenic we’ve opposed policies of the U.S. government.”

Republicans faithfully support the laissez-fare economical strategy in which transactions betwixt backstage groups of radical are escaped from immoderate signifier of authorities interventionism specified arsenic regulations. However, erstwhile it comes to opposing thing Republicans clasp near-and-dear to their hearts, interventionism successful the signifier of punitive actions is ever the Republicans’ archetypal reaction.

In DeSantis’ case, helium apt could not attraction little whether oregon not the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem person to commencement making their ain crystal cream; helium whitethorn not adjacent similar the delicious frozen treat. He is acrophobic astir  the immense Jewish voting bloc successful Florida and making a sanction for himself arsenic the eventual Israel supporter.

As Mr. Cohen and Greenfield said, protesting against Israeli abuses successful occupied Palestine is not discriminating against the Israeli radical oregon the State of Israel; it is opposing its quality rights abuses targeting the Palestinian people. But arsenic a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, DeSantis supports Israeli abuses like helium supports American instrumentality enforcement’s abuses against peaceful protestors. More than that, DeSantis continues the GOP signifier of doing precisely what the authorities of Israel orders starring 1 to wonderment wherever his loyalty truly lies.