Ben & Jerry’s executive ‘wins’ antisemite of the year for 2021

More than 10,000 people voted to bestow the title upon Anuradha Mittal, after she spearheaded a move to stop selling Ben & Jerry’s in Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

The head of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors and vice president of the Vermont ice cream maker’s charitable organization won the dubious distinction of being named ‘antisemite of the year’ by watchdog group StopAntisemitism.org.

More than 10,000 people voted to bestow the title upon Anuradha Mittal, after she spearheaded a move to stop selling Ben & Jerry’s in Judea and Samaria, which she referred to as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

“For us and for the voters, Mittal was clearly the 2021 Antisemite of the Year,” said Liora Rez, the founder and executive director of StopAntisemitism, in a statement.

“The Ben & Jerry’s boycott is shamelessly biased, and Mittal’s commitment to promoting her antisemitic and anti-Israel agenda is deplorable.”

Although Ben & Jerry’s products are widely sold in countries that regularly commit horrendous human rights violations, including in Iran, where homosexuals and political dissidents are publicly executed, and China, where Uyghur Muslims are exterminated in “reeducation camps,” Mittal singled out Israel as the only country in which the company has banned sales.

But the Judea and Samaria boycott is far from the first antisemitic stance that Mittal has taken. As the founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute, a far-left think tank, she has supported and distributed various reports and white papers accusing Israel of everything from apartheid to genocide and colonialism.

As backlash grew, Mittal said she was a victim of online hate, implying that criticism of her was due to the fact that she is an Indian-American woman – not as a direct consequence of her policies or statements.

Mittal told NBC News in late July that Ben & Jerry’s had originally planned a full-blown boycott of Israel, but their parent company Unilever intervened and changed their announcement at the last minute to read that their products would still be available in Israel “proper.”

She insinuated that Unilever’s business decision to continue operating in Israel, despite Ben & Jerry’s objections, was inherently racist and sexist.

“I can’t stop thinking that this is what happens when you have a board with all women and people of color who have been pushing to do the right thing,” she said.