Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, has been arrested after participating in a pro-Palestine protest that disrupted a congressional hearing.
The demonstration was staged during a meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which was hearing testimony from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
As Kennedy was speaking, activists stood up from the public gallery and began yelling slogans, causing the US health czar to visibly flinch in shock.
The chants included “RFK kills people with AIDs”, “when Bobby lies, children die” and “anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America,” in reference to accusations that Kennedy is an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, which he has repeatedly denied.
Cohen, though, used the occasion to voice his opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, claiming: “Congress kills poor kids in Gaza and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US.”
Capitol Police quickly swarmed the activists and escorted them out of the room as the committee chair, Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, said: “Members of the audience are reminded that disruptions will not be permitted while the committee conducts its business.”
As he was dragged away, Cohen was asked by a fellow protestor “how many days have they been starving in Gaza?”
He responded “what has it been? 75 days?”, adding: “Congress and the senators need to ease the siege.
"They need to let food into Gaza. They need to get food to starving kids.”
Israel has repeatedly claimed that there is no famine in Gaza and blamed shortages on Hamas thefts of humanitarian aid. The new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private entity set up with US and Israeli backing, has announced it will begin aid deliveries to the Strip next month.
Police later confirmed that seven people had been arrested. The other six protestors, but not Cohen, have since been charged with resisting arrest and assault on an officer.
Cohen, who is Jewish, is a long standing critics of Israel’s war in Gaza and has defended his company’s decision to cease sales in the West Bank before its new owners, Unilever, sold the Ben and Jerry’s Israel division to an American firm.
In March, he drew parallel between Israeli airstrikes and the Holocaust, saying: “I don’t think there’s much difference between somebody getting killed by a bomb or getting killed by being thrown in a gas chamber.”
His arrest comes just days after he gave a bizarre interview to right-wing podcast host Tucker Carlson, during which he professed that he “loves Jesus”.
"In terms of a spiritual belief, I mean, I don’t practise a religion”, he said, adding: “I was born a Jew. I love Jesus Christ. I think the words that he said are wonderful, are amazing. And, you know, I’m kind of distressed that a lot of organised Christian religions are not really, I don’t know, abiding by the words of Jesus Christ.
"I think if we could follow the words of Jesus Christ and think about the Sermon on the Mount and, you know, take his words seriously, we wouldn’t be doing the stuff we’re currently doing.”
