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An Open Letter to the Board of Directors of Ben and Jerry's

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - Your decision to end business in "Occupied Palestinian Territory" is based on what you perceive to be the notion that "a majority of the international community, including the United Nations, deems to be an illegal occupation." But this premise is patently inaccurate since it relies on non-obligatory UN General Assembly resolutions adopted by an automatic and political majority that cannot claim to determine the legality or illegality of Israel's presence in the territory. Your decision ignores the fact that the Palestinians themselves and Israel have agreed in the internationally-sanctioned Oslo Accords to divide the governance of the territories between them, pending completion of their mutual negotiation on the permanent status of the territories. Thus, your reasoning for ending business in these areas is based on a false premise and runs counter to the Palestinians' own wishes and legal obligations in the Oslo Accords. The writer, former legal counsel to Israel's foreign ministry and former ambassador to Canada, heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center.
2021-08-05 00:00:00
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