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North Carolina Pulls $40 Million in Investments From Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever Over Israel Boycott
A Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream delivery truck is seen at their factory in Be’er Tuvia, Israel, July 20, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun
North Carolina announced on Thursday that the state will no longer invest in the British conglomerate Unilever or its subsidiaries, including the Vermont-based ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s, due to the ice cream company’s boycott of Israel.
The North Carolina Department of State Treasurer added Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Unilever PLC, and Unilever’s subsidiaries to a list of companies with which it restricts investments and contracts due to their anti-Israel activity.
The Treasurer’s Office noted in its announcement that state law prohibits “the North Carolina Retirement Systems or the Department of State Treasurer from investing in any company engaged in a boycott of Israel.”
Therefore, State Treasurer Dale Folwell ordered the divestment of $40 million in Unilever assets and notified local governments and state agencies that they are forbidden from contracting with either Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever.
“We have policies in place per state law that dictate how we should proceed on any holdings in the retirement system of companies that boycott Israel and their affiliates. We will follow our policies and the law,” Folwell said in a statement. “This is particularly important in this case as we have witnessed the atrocities perpetrated against the Israeli people. There is no place for antisemitism in this state or this country.”
The North Carolina Retirement Systems provides retirement benefits and savings for more than 1 million people. Its investments, which currently total $117.9 billion, are managed by the Department of State Treasurer.
Thursday’s announcement came amid a surge in global antisemitism, including across the US, since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
North Carolina has joined a slew of other US states — including Florida, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Texas — that have withdrawn their investments, stocks, and pension funds from Unilever because of Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel. About 35 states in the US have anti-Israel boycott laws.
Ben & Jerry’s announced in July 2021 that it would stop selling its products in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas it deemed “Occupied Palestinian Territory” — arguing the continuation of sales there would be “inconsistent” with its company values. The ice cream giant added that it would remain selling its items in Israel “through a different arrangement.”
Ben & Jerry’s founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, both of whom are Jewish, later wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that they supported the boycott decision, calling it “not anti-Israel, but as part of a long history of being pro-peace.”
In Jan. 2022, Unilever announced a company overhaul that would include having Ben & Jerry’s operate under a separate “business group” along with other ice cream brands. In June of that year, Unilever sold Ben & Jerry’s business in Israel to a local licensee, so that the products could continue being sold in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever to try to avoid the sale, but a judge rejected Ben & Jerry’s bid.
The post North Carolina Pulls $40 Million in Investments From Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever Over Israel Boycott first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.