Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, was arrested alongside six others on Wednesday after disrupting a US Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Cohen interrupted testimony by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who was addressing lawmakers about reforms to federal health agencies. Protesters accused Congress of funding Israel’s military operations at the expense of domestic welfare programmes.
“Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,” Cohen shouted as he was led away by Capitol Police.
The seven individuals were charged with offences including crowding, obstructing, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. Cohen was only charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding,” a misdemeanour punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine.
Cohen, who is Jewish, has been outspoken in his criticism of US military aid to Israel. In a recent interview, he described the country as “the world’s largest arms exporter” and condemned American complicity in the “slaughter of people in Gaza.”
Ben & Jerry’s has long maintained a progressive political stance. In 2021, the company stopped allowing its Israeli licensee to sell ice cream in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, citing concerns over human rights. Its parent company, Unilever, later settled a legal dispute with the brand following an attempted injunction.
In March, Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever, alleging that CEO David Stever was dismissed over his support for the brand’s social mission.
Since October 2023, nearly 52,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to health authorities.
A ministry statement said that 33 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave in the last 24 hours, while 94 others were injured, taking the number of injuries to 119,648 in the Israeli onslaught.
The Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed 2,749 people and injured over 7,600 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
