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During the Israel-Gaza war, you may have heard the phrase “from the river to the sea” being chanted. Learn why it’s not a freedom call – it’s straight up antisemitism.
Since the start of the Israel-Gaza War, sparked by the Hamas massacre of 1400 Israelis on October 7, along with 220 kidnapped, there have been a number of pro-Palestinian protests around the world. Many of the protestors have shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
This phrase has been used for years and it’s gaining prominence once again. Is it an encouraging, optimistic phrase meant to signify the bright future for the Palestinian people? Or is it meant to tear down Israel and the Jewish People?
Pro-Palestinian activists will say that “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” means that Palestinians will one day have their own state that would exist from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, the current location of Israel. These are the western and eastern borders. The chant means that the entire land of Israel will be ethnically cleansed of the Jewish population, and the Palestinian people would live there instead.
The chant denies the Jewish connection to Israel, which has existed since Biblical times. Jews have always lived in the land of Israel – in fact, its real name is “Judea.” “From the river to the sea” supports the expulsion, and even genocide, of Israel’s Jewish inhabitants. Additionally, it rejects a peaceful solution to the conflict, where Israel and Palestine could have a two-state solution and live side-by-side. It calls for the eradication of Israel in its entirety.
This phrase is not something only heard on college campuses and demonstrations in different cities around the globe; it is also the official anthem of terror groups, like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hamas. In 1988, Hamas created a charter and called for the complete destruction of Israel. Decades later, Hamas terrorists carried out the October 7 massacre.
After the massacre, actress, director, and author of “Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth” Noa Tishby gave an impassioned speech to the Friends of the IDF, stating, “We warned what the phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ really looks like. It means ‘itbach al Yahud’ – ‘slaughter the Jews.’”
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Nathan Sales, an ex-counterterrorism official, said on the news that when protestors chant this phrase, they are calling for the "extermination of the Jewish state.”
"They think that Israel shouldn't exist at all,” Sales said. “This is exterminationist rhetoric and our First Amendment means that we have to tolerate this kind of speech, but the antidote for that kind of abhorrent speech is more speech. We need to expose what these Hamas sympathizers are really all about."
On the other side, in 2021, Palestinian model Bella Hadid marched in a pro-Palestinian protest and yelled the phrase. According to Algemeiner, Hadid also posted on social media, accusing Israel of “colonization, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid over the Palestinian people that has been going on for YEARS!”
Marc Lamont Hill, an ex-CNN commentator and current professor at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City, as well as an Al Jazeera English host, once used the phrase, saying in 2018, “We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grassroots action, local action and international action that will give us what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea.” He later apologized.
In a Guardian article from October 21, which covered a pro-Palestine protest in London, participants said the phrase was “simply a call for freedom.” One teacher who chanted it said he didn’t know its meaning. When he was informed, he told the paper, “Really? I genuinely had no idea.” The 47-year-old added: “I hated [Jeremy] Corbyn for how he behaved on this issue.”
In a time when thousands of people, including college students, are protesting for the Palestinians and chanting this phrase around the world, it’s critical to clarify its meaning. Some people may be well-intentioned and have no idea of its meaning, while others do know – and they are openly advocating for the expulsion and genocide of the Jewish people in Israel.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” may sound like an empowering chant, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that it means something much more nefarious than presented.
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From the river to the sea,
I hope the IDF makes Israel terrorist-free.
Jews Should chant:
From the Mederiterian Sea to Jordan all the palestinians should go home to Jordan aka East Palestine
The meaning of this phrase seems to depend on whether viewed from Palestinian or Pro Israeli Givernment perspectives. “The Dutch courts have just refuted the Israeli claim that this is antisemitic stating “That court concluded that the pro-Palestinian slogans Hofland had used in his speech “are subject to various interpretations” and “relate to the state of Israel and possibly to people with Israeli citizenship, but do not relate to Jews because of their race or religion”.
Is it possible for Israel to just absorb the Palestinian population so that they become Israeli citizens too with the right to vote and all the rights and freedoms of that citizenship?
how about: From the river
to the sea
thus will Israel
forever be!
Yashar Ko’ah
From the Sea to the River...
Eretz Yisrael Forver!
Here's a counter slogan from the true possessors of the land to the terrorists, antisemites and all their supporters:
YOU CAN SCREAM AND YOU CAN YELL;
IN THE END, YOU'LL GO TO _ ELL!
Great speech!!!