Sir, – In response to ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s declaration that it is ceasing operations in the Israeli state’s illegal settlements, an overwhelming majority of 90 out of 120 members of the Knesset (the Israeli state’s parliament) have this week signed a letter accusing the company of operating “a boycott of towns and cities in Israel”.
It would be amusing, were it not such a serious matter, that a declaration by an ice-cream company should lead to a clear acknowledgement that the Israeli establishment regards its colonial settlements in the West Bank as being already conclusively annexed to the Israeli state.
Decades of pretence that the occupation was temporary are melting away, but human rights for Palestinians are still on ice. Dáil Éireann have led the way in calling out Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the West Bank, but it took an ice-cream company to deliver the final scoop in prompting Israeli policy-makers to say so themselves!– Yours, etc,
BRIAN
Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.