This post isn't really patent or even IP related. Last year I wrote about how Ben & Jerry's announced it wouldn't renew its Israeli licensee's contract because the latter refused to stop selling ice cream in Judea and Samaria, and how from an IP practitioner's standpoint this presented several interesting possibilities, like selling ice cream under the name "Jen & Barry's", registering that mark, and eventually seeking cancellation of the Ben & Jerry's mark in Judea and Samaria for non-use (if cancellation of the mark only in those areas is possible under Israel law; I'm not sure it is).
One point I missed at the time was that any contract that would require a licensee to refuse to sell in Judea and Samaria would be void and/or unenforceable, as such a contract violates Israeli law. Which means either the ice cream is sold throughout Israel, including Judea and Samaria, or it's not sold at all. And if the latter, that's the basis for a trademark cancellation action.
Earlier this month, the Israeli licensee, Avi Zinger, struck back: he filed suit in Federal District Court in New Jersey seeking an injunction against the termination of the license, inter alia on the grounds that the basis for the termination violates both US and Israel law, and constitutes a breach of his existing contract. You can read the complaint here.
Today Mr. Zinger published a piece on substack, explaining why he took the action he did. He notes how much he has done for coexistence, and how the so-called boycott, divest and sanctions movement (BDS) is directed not against Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria but the existence of Israel, period (as evinced by B&J's refusal to consider giving distribution rights in Judea and Samaria to local Arabs - B&J's doesn't want ANY of its product sold in those areas, not to Jews, not to Arabs).
I hope Mr. Zinger prevails, for many reasons, but among them is the selfish reason that B&J in Israel recently produced a run of mint cookie ice cream, which is a personal favorite of mine. This the first time I can recall that in over 30 years of living here, there has been locally produced mint ice cream.