No, Ben & Jerry’s Is Not Selling a ‘Free Palestine’ Ice Cream Flavor
By Hilary Hersh
What happened: Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli social media users alike are falsely claiming that Ben & Jerry’s launched a “Free Palestine” flavor, citing an AI-generated image of a carton that displays that supposed flavor along with the controversial phrase “From the river to the sea.”
Context: Since founding Ben & Jerry’s in 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have advocated for left-wing causes and have been outspoken critics of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Cohen was arrested while participating in a pro-Palestinian protest at the U.S. Senate on May 14, 2025. He was charged with a misdemeanor and released from police custody. It does not appear that Cohen entered a plea.
In November 2024, Ben & Jerry’s sued its now-owner Unilever, the British-Dutch conglomerate that bought the company in 2000, accusing it of trying to stifle Ben & Jerry’s pro-Palestine protests. Commenting on the suit, Unilever told Reuters in a statement, "Our heart goes out to all victims of the tragic events in the Middle East. We reject the claims made by B&J’s social mission board, and we will defend our case very strongly." The suit is pending.
A closer look: In late May, an image circulated online showing a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor supposedly named “Free Palestine.” In addition to the phrase “From the river to the sea,” the package displayed two smiling children wearing traditional Arabic headscarves known as kaffiyehs, standing over a platter of fish. (Fish are a prominent image in Islamic art and culture.)
Pro-Palestinian journalist Sulaiman Ahmed posted the image and stated, “BEN & JERRYS IS AGAINST OPPRESSION.” The post garnered 1 million views and 77,000 likes in two days.
Pro-Israel X user @VividProwess shared the image and stated: “Is this real? Wow. Shame on Ben & Jerry’s.” The post received 484,000 views and 10,000 likes in one day.
The phrase “From the river to the sea” is a pro-Palestinian slogan that supporters say calls for Palestinian rights in the region while Israel supporters say it as a vow to destroy the Jewish state.
Actually: The image is AI-generated, according to the creator of the photo.
The image was produced using AI-program ChatGPT, pro-Palestinian Instagram user @iampocoloco, who first posted it, acknowledged. On May 15, the day after Cohen’s arrest, the Instagram account shared the image and stated: “DONT BUY BEN N JERRYS. ZIO[NIST] OWNED STILLLL. I JUST HAD CHATGPT MAKE THIS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT’D LOOK SWEET.”
NewsGuard reviewed Ben & Jerry’s menu of flavors and social media accounts and did not find any flavor referring to Palestine or Israel.
Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever did not respond to emailed requests for comment.