New York—Earlier this week, callers to JLBC demanded the removal of an Edible Arrangements ad placed by a Jewish-owned franchise in Fair Lawn. JLBC set out to confirm whether the viral rumor was true. In the interim, the ADL confirmed it was an unsubstantiated lie.
In a statement issued earlier this week, the ADL said, “A widely circulated rumor suggests that the owners of Edible Arrangements, a company that sells fruit baskets through a series of privately owned franchises across the country, are ‘funding Hamas’ through a charitable foundation they support. Several ideologically motivated online sites are urging consumers to boycott the company due to their ‘ties to terrorism.’
“In fact, there is absolutely no truth to these unfounded assertions. While the Farid Foundation has provided funding to various organizations in the U.S. and abroad, there is no evidence to suggest that any of those funds have been used to support terrorism. Moreover, the company has clearly and unequivocally denounced terrorism, including those forms of terror used by Hamas.
“It should also be noted that the company’s franchise owners come from a variety of religious backgrounds; some are Jewish, including the company’s current president.”
