WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Ben & Jerry's is selling an ice-cream tub labelled with the phrase "From the river to sea".
OUR VERDICT
False. Images of tubs were created using AI and have nothing to do with the company.
AAP FACTCHECK - US ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry's is not selling tubs labelled "From the river to the sea" and "Free Palestine", despite supporters of both Israel and Palestine claiming images depicting the messaging are real.
The images were generated with artificial intelligence (AI) by an Instagram user not associated with the company and have nothing to do with Ben & Jerry's or its parent company Unilever - despite Ben & Jerry's board recently calling the conflict in Gaza a genocide.
One of the images went viral after being shared by an X user who described themselves as a proud Zionist. Their post from May 26, 2025, read: "Is this real? Wow. Shame on Ben & Jerry's."
The picture in the post showed a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream labelled "Free Palestine", with a cartoon image of two children wearing keffiyeh headdresses, and the words "From the river to sea" on the side of the tub.
"From the river to the sea" is a call to peace and equality, according to Palestinian activists, but a call for the wiping out of Israel, according to Jews, as outlined by an Associated Press explainer.
Another X user, also with hundreds of thousands of followers, shared a related image in a post from May 27, 2025, that read: "BEN & JERRY'S STANDS WITH THE JOURNALISTS OF PALESTlNE!"
The picture in the post shows cartoon depictions of journalists, labelled "press" and carrying cameras, with halos above their heads. The ice-cream tub is labelled "From the River".
"Al-Jarmaq News" shared a different image of another Ben & Jerry's tub of ice-cream labelled "From the River to Sea" in a Facebook post on May 29, 2025.
Multiple fact-checking organisations have since debunked the images as fake, including Politifact, NewsGuard's Reality Check, Lead Stories and Forbes.
The images have been traced to an Instagram account that shared seven different images of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream tubs bearing messages in support of Palestine.
In the post, the caption reads: "YEOO DONT BUY BEN N JERRYS. ZIO OWNED STILLLL. I JUST HAD CHATGPT MAKE THIS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT'D LOOK SWEET.
"Ben from Ben & Jerry's (which is one of the top 3 premium Ice Cream brands in the U.S.) was arrested after standing up in a congress meeting and asking to stop aiding the genocide and oppression of Palestine.
"'CONGRESS KILLS POOR KIDS IN GAZA BY BUYING BOMBS AND PAYS FOR IT BY KICKING KIDS OFF MEDICAID IN THE U.S.' Ben Cohen said again and again as he was escorted out in handcuffs.
"Ben doesn't own a stake in the company since they sold it to to big Zionist corporation but just thought this packaging would be extra sweet."
The comments refer to the arrest of Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen on May 15, 2025, following a protest in the US Senate, which was reported by the BBC.
It's true that Cohen no longer owns a stake in Ben & Jerry's. The company was sold to British food giant Unilever in 2000, in a deal that, according to a lawsuit filed by Ben & Jerry's in November 2024, included an agreement that the company could continue to speak out on social issues.
According to Reuters, Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever to stop alleged efforts to dismantle its board and end its social activism.
Ben & Jerry's has made no comment about the fake images circulating on social media, and did not respond to a request for comment by AAP FactCheck.
Ben & Jerry's lists all its current flavours on its website. Pro-Palestine variants are not listed among them.
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