Illinois Divests State Pension Assets from Unilever over Ben and Jerry’s Antisemitic Boycott

Illinois’ state pension will divest from Unilever, the parent company of Ben and Jerry’s, over the ice cream company’s decision this summer to stop selling ice cream in various parts of Israel.

The  Illinois Investment Policy Board voted 7-0 to add Uniliver to its “prohibited entity list.”  It was not yet clear when state agencies would have to divest from the company.

Illinois becomes at least the fifth state to divest from Unilever, although the dictates vary; some states require no further investment but allow existing investments to remain in place.

The other states divesting from Uniliver because of Ben & Jerry’s decision are New York, New Jersey, Arizona and Illinois. At least three other states among the 34 states that penalize Israel boycotts have launched reviews that could lead to divestment.

The ice cream company announced in July that it would stop selling ice cream in the West Bank. In announcing the decision, the company broke a two-month silence on social media that began with the violent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in May.

“We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company said at the time. “We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.”

In 2015, Illinois became the first state to pass a law barring the state pension fund from investing in companies that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.

Since then, some 33 states have passed similar laws or issued executive orders prohibiting state pension funds from investing in companies that boycott Israel.

In July, Israel’s ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan wrote a letter to the governors of those states asking them to enforce their anti-BDS laws and divest from Ben and Jerry’s.

It was unclear at the time whether the Ben and Jerry’s decision would impact Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 from its Jewish founders, Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, under a unique arrangement that allows an external board to determine how the company embraces social and political causes. Ben & Jerry’s said at the time that it remained committed to selling its ice cream within Israel’s 1967 lines, although that might be impossible under Israeli law.

Texas Becomes First State to Adopt IHRA Definition of Antisemitism

The governor of Texas signed into state law the establishment of a state commission to monitor antisemitism, using the definition of antisemitism drawn up by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance organization.

“Over the past several years we have seen a disturbing rise in antisemitism as Americans of the Jewish faith are one of the most targeted faith groups in America,” Greg Abbott said on Thursday at the signing ceremony for the legislation. “Antisemitism has surged even more this past year following the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. We have a duty as Texans and Americans to combat antisemitism whenever or however it arises.”

The IHRA definition has been adopted by 29 countries, the EU, and numerous local governments and institutions around the world, as a way to clearly define antisemitism in order to accurately monitor its prevalence.

Texas became the first US state to adopt the IHRA definition, and other states are also advancing similar legislation. Its new antisemitism commission will produce biennial studies on antisemitism in Texas, work with schools and institutions of higher educations to develop effective methods to combat antisemitism, and implement Holocaust and genocide courses of study and awareness programs.The Israel Foreign Ministry welcomed the passage of the law, as did the office of the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest United States.

Jewish organizations also welcomed the signing into law of the bill.

“Texas, whose Senate and House of Representatives approved the legislation with nearly unanimous bipartisan support (no legislators voted against the bills), sets an example for the rest of the country by joining the growing global coalition of countries, major cities, and institutions that have rallied behind this key instrument in addressing the urgent threat of antisemitism,” said the leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. “It is essential to define antisemitism in order to combat it successfully.”

The American Jewish Committee also praised the passage of the bill, saying its approval was timely given the recent surge in antisemitic incidents in the US.

“Given the sharp uptick in antisemitism across America, we are gratified that this legislation has received overwhelmingly bipartisan support,” said Joel Schwitzer, director of AJC Dallas.

Critics of the IHRA definition focus on its inclusion of examples determining that antisemitism includes “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” applying double standards to Israel’s actions, drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis, and holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

Such critics have argued that the IHRA definition therefore stifles free speech and suppresses debate on Israel.

Advocates for the IHRA definition have pointed out that it explicitly states that manifestations of antisemitism “might include” targeting of the state of Israel, and that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country “cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

In Long Awaited Move, Associated Press (AP) Changes Spelling of ‘Anti-Semitism’ to ‘Antisemitism’

The Associated Press has changed its spelling of the word “antisemitism,” now writing it without a hyphen — joining the leading experts of hatred against Jews who have long advocated that usage.

The Twitter account of the AP Stylebook — the leading reference for news publications — posted on Friday, “We now write antisemitism (n.), antisemitic (adj.), without a hyphen and with no capitalization.”

“This is a change from AP‘s previous style: anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic,” it added.

The Algemeiner has long used the spelling “antisemitism,” but the issue has been a subject of debate in the Jewish and scholarly communities.

The acclaimed Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt has been campaigning for some time to adopt the non-hyphenated spelling. She told Israeli daily Haaretz last year, “The hyphen is over. We are way overdue when it comes to losing the hyphen. Its presence completely distorts the meaning of the word.”

She said that the term is often misrepresented or misinterpreted as referring to all speakers of a Semitic language, when in fact it has only ever referred to Jews.

“Why do I spell antisemitism without a hyphen?” Lipstadt has asked. “Because anti-Semitism is not hatred of Semitism or Semites — people who speak Semitic languages. Antisemitism is Jew hatred.”

Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer agreed, writing in 1994, “Anti-Semitism is altogether an absurd construction, since there is no such thing as ‘Semitism’ to which it might be opposed.”

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance also supports the non-hyphenated spelling, stating that the hyphenated version “allows for the possibility of something called ‘Semitism,’ which not only legitimizes a form of pseudo-scientific racial classification that was thoroughly discredited by association with Nazi ideology, but also divides the term, stripping it from its meaning of opposition and hatred toward Jews.”

Some disagreed at the time, including the AP Stylebook. Andrew Silow-Carroll, editor-in-chief of the New York Jewish Week, told the Israeli outlet, “Although the case for ‘antisemitism’ is strong, we are sticking with anti-Semitism because it appears to be the preferred spelling among most of the Jewish institutions we cover, and because it is consistent with our own newspaper’s practices going back decades.”