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"From the river to the sea" (Arabic:من النهر إلى البحر,romanized: min an-nahr ʾilā l-baḥr;Palestinian Arabic:من المية للمية,romanized: min il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye,lit. 'from the water to the water')[1][2] is apolitical slogan that refers to the area between theJordan River and theMediterranean Sea – an area historically known asPalestine, which was formerly ruled by the British asMandatory Palestine,[3] and which today encompassesIsrael and theoccupied Palestinian territories of theWest Bank and theGaza Strip.[4][5] The phrase and its variations have been used both byPalestinians andIsraelis[6] to mean that the area should consist ofone state, rather thantwo (orthree).
In the 1960s, thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) used it to call for what they saw as a "decolonized" state encompassing the entirety ofMandatory Palestine.[7] By 1969, after several revisions, the PLO used the phrase to call for a one-state solution, that would mean "one democratic secular state that would supersede the ethno-religious state of Israel".[7]
Many pro-Palestinian activists consider it "a call for peace and equality" after decades of Israeli military rule over Palestinians, while for manyJews it is seen as a call for thedestruction of Israel.[8] Frequently, atpro-Palestine protests around the world, it has been used as achant or rallying cry.[9]Hamas used the phrase in its2017 charter; usage of the phrase by such Palestinian militant groups has led critics to say that it advocates for the dismantling of Israel, and theremoval orextermination of its Jewish population.[10][8] Some countries have considered criminalizing its use as anantisemitic call for violence.[11][12]
An earlyZionist slogan envisaged statehood extending over the two banks of the Jordan river, and when that vision proved impractical, it was substituted by the idea of aGreater Israel, an entity conceived as extending from the Jordan to the sea.[13][14] The phrase has also been used by Israeli politicians. The 1977 election manifesto of the right-wing IsraeliLikud party said: "Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty."[15][16][17] Similar wording, such as referring to the area "west of the Jordan river", has also been used in the 2020s by other Israeli politicians,[3] including Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu on 18 January 2024.[18][19]
The precise origins of the phrase are disputed.[20] According to the American historianRobin D. G. Kelley, the phrase "began as aZionist slogan signifying the boundaries ofEretz Israel."[6] The Israeli-American historianOmer Bartov notes that Zionist usage of such language predates theestablishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and began with theRevisionist movement of Zionism led byZe'ev Jabotinsky, which spoke of establishing a Jewish state in all of Palestine and had asong which includes: "The Jordan has two banks; this one is ours, and the other one too," suggesting a Jewish state extending even beyond the Jordan River.[21] In 1977, the concept appeared in an election manifesto of the Israeli political partyLikud, which stated that "between the sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty".[22][23] The current ideology of theIsraeli government in 2024 is rooted inRevisionist Zionism, which sought the entire territory ofMandatory Palestine.[24][25]
The Middle East scholarElliott Colla says that the relevant historical context for understanding "from the river to the sea" is the history of partition and fragmentation in Palestine, along with Israeli appropriation and annexation of Palestinian lands.[26] In his opinion, these include: the1947 UN Partition plan for Palestine, which proposed to divide the land between the river and the sea; the1948 Nakba, in which that plan materialized; the1967 War, in which Israel occupied theWest Bank andGaza; theOslo Accords, that (in his view) fragmented the West Bank intoPalestinian enclaves (that he describes as "anarchipelago ofBantustans surrounded byIsraeli settlements, bases, and checkpoints"); and theIsraeli separation wall first erected after theSecond Intifada.[26]
Another element of historical context is given by Maha Nassar from University of Arizona. According to her, the phrase "from the river to the sea" was used even before 1967, and expressed then the hope of the Palestinians free themselves not only from the rule of Israel, but also from the rule ofJordan in the West Bank and from the rule ofEgypt in the Gaza Strip.[27]
Palestinian usage of this phrase is also unclear. Kelley writes that the phrase was adopted by thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the mid-1960s;[28][27] whileElliott Colla notes that "it is unclear when and where the slogan "from the river to the sea," first emerged within Palestinian protest culture."[26] In November 2023, Colla wrote that he had not encountered the phrase — in either Standard norLevantine Arabic — in Palestinian revolutionary media of the 1960s and 1970s and noted that "the phrase appears nowhere in thePalestinian National Charters of 1964 or 1968, nor in the Hamas Charter of 1988."[26]
The1964 charter of the PLO'sPalestinian National Council called for "the recovery of the usurped homeland in its entirety". The 1964 charter stated that "Jews who are of Palestinian origin shall be considered Palestinians if they are willing to live peacefully and loyally in Palestine", specifically defining "Palestinian" as those who had "normally resided in Palestine until 1947".[28] In the 1968 revision, the charter was further revised, stating that "Jews who had resided normally in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion" would be considered Palestinian.[28][27] In the 1969 revision, the PLO promised equal citizenship to all Jews, including those who had recently immigrated, if they renounced Zionism.[28] Thus by 1969, the PLO used the phrase "free Palestine from the river to the sea" to mean a single democratic secular state that would replace Israel.[7]
In 1979, the phrase was invoked by delegates attending thePalestine Congress of North America.[29]
Colla notes that activists of theFirst Intifada (1987–1993) "remember hearing variations of the phrase in Arabic from the late 1980s onwards" and that the phrases have been documented in graffiti from the period in works such asSaleh Abd al-Jawad's "Faṣāʾil al-ḥaraka l-waṭaniyya l-Filasṭīniyya fī l-ʾarāḍī l-muḥtalla wa-shuʿārāt al-judrān" (1991)[30] and Julie Peteet's "The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada" (1996).[31][26]
The phrase appeared in a 2021B'Tselem report entitled "A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This Is Apartheid" that described Israel'sde facto rule over the territory from the river to the sea, through itsoccupation of the West Bank andblockade of the Gaza Strip, as a regime ofapartheid.[32][33]
The different versions of the slogan that developed over the time emphasize different aspects of the Palestinian struggle. The versionmin an-nahr ʾilā l-baḥr / Filasṭīn sa-tataḥarrar (من النهر إلى البحر / فلسطين ستتحرر, "from the river to the sea / Palestine will be free") has a focus on liberation and freedom.[34][26] The versionmin il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye / Falasṭīn ʿarabiyye (من المية للمية / فلسطين عربية, "from the water to the water / Palestine is Arab") has anArab nationalist sentiment, and the versionmin il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye / Falasṭīn ʾislāmiyye (من المية للمية / فلسطين إسلامية, "from the water to the water / Palestine is Islamic") hasIslamic sentiment.[26] According to Colla, the latter two versions have been used in thegraffiti of the late 1980s, the period of theFirst Intifada.[26] The rhyming "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"—the translation ofmin an-nahr ʾilā l-baḥr / Filasṭīn sa-tataḥarrar—is the version that has circulated among English speakers expressing solidarity with Palestine since at least the 1990s.[26]
Similar formulations have been used by Zionists and Israelis.Omer Bartov notes the song "The East Bank of the Jordan" by theRevisionist Zionist leaderVladimir Jabotinsky used the formulationshtei gadót le-Yardén: zo shelánu, zo gam kan (שתי גדות לירדן: זו שלנו, זו גם כן, "the Jordan has two banks; this one is ours, and the other one too").[21][35] TheLikud Party used the formulationben ha-yam le-Yardén tihyé rak ribonút israelít (בין הים לירדן תהיה רק ריבונות ישראלית, "between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty").[36][37] Most recently this has been stated by Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu on 18 January 2024.[18][19]
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Hamas, as part of its revised2017 charter, rejected "any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea", referring to all areas of formerMandatory Palestine and by extension, the end of Jewish sovereignty in the region.[3][38][39][40] However, in the sentence immediately following this, it accepts "the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus."[41] Many scholars see Hamas' acceptance of the 1967 borders as a tacit acceptance of another entity on the other side.[42]
Palestinian Islamic Jihad declared that "from the river to the sea – [Palestine] is an Arab Islamic land that [it] is legally forbidden from abandoning any inch of, and the Israeli presence in Palestine is a null existence, which is forbidden by law to recognize.[43]Islamists have used a version "Palestine is Islamic from the river to the sea".[44]
The phrase was also used by the Israeli rulingLikud party as part of their 1977 election manifesto which stated "Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty."[15][16][17] This slogan was repeated by party leader and Prime Minister,Menachem Begin.[45] Similar wording has also been used more recently by other Israeli politicians, likeGideon Sa'ar and alsoUri Ariel ofThe Jewish Home. In 2014 Ariel said, "Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea there will be only one state, which is Israel."[3] The phrase has been used by the Israeli prime minister, Likud'sBenjamin Netanyahu, in speeches.[20][46] Similar wording has also been used more recently by other Israeli politicians.[3]
Among thematerials recovered by American forces during thekilling ofal-Qaeda founderOsama bin Laden was a speech addressed to the American people, in which bin Laden proposed economic and security guarantees in exchange for a "roadmap that returns the Palestine land to us, all of it, from the sea to the river, it is an Islamic land not subject to being traded or granted to any party."[47][48][49][50]
On 27 September 2008,Hezbollah secretary-generalHassan Nasrallah stated at a rally "Palestine, from the sea to the river, is the property of Arabs and Palestinians and no one has the right to give up even a single grain of earth or one stone, because every grain of the land is holy. The entire land must be returned to its rightful owners."[51] FormerIranian PresidentEbrahim Raisi, in 2023, used the phrase, saying "The only solution is a Palestinian state from the river to the sea", meaning that the only solution to the conflict would be a Palestinian state encompassing all of Israel and the Palestinian territories.[52][53][54] In 2003, thenIraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein, during a speech commemorating the anniversary of theIraqi Army's establishment, referred to thePalestinian people and theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict, stating "Long live Palestine, free and Arab, from the sea to the river".[55]
On 30 October 2023, British Member of ParliamentAndy McDonald was suspended from theLabour Party after stating in a pro-Palestine rally speech: "We won't rest until we have justice, until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea can live in peaceful liberty". The party described McDonald's comment as "deeply offensive".[17][56] McDonald said at the time, "These words should not be construed in any other way than they were intended, namely as a heartfelt plea for an end to killings in Israel, Gaza, and the occupied West Bank, and for all peoples in the region to live in freedom without the threat of violence."[8]
As of 1 November 2023, the (English)Football Association barred the use of the phrase by its players, stating they made clear to teams "that this phrase is considered offensive to many" and that the league will seek police guidance on how [they] should treat it and respond" if players have used it.[57] On November 5 theMet Police stopped working with an adviser who chanted the slogan during a protest saying this appears "antisemitic and contrary with our values".[58]
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On 30 November 2018,CNN fired the American academicMarc Lamont Hill from his position as a political commentator after he delivered a speech at theUnited Nations on theInternational Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People[3][59] ending with the words: "...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."[60] The ADL accused Hill of using the phrase "from the river to the sea" as code for the destruction of Israel.[59] Hill apologized, but later tweeted "You say 'River to the Sea' is "universally" understood to mean the destruction of the Jewish State? On what basis do you make this claim? Did it signify destruction when it was the slogan of the Likud Party? Or when currently used by the Israeli Right?"[3]
On 7 November 2023, United States RepresentativeRashida Tlaib wascensured by theHouse of Representatives in part for using the phrase,[3][61] which Tlaib defended as "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate". Before the vote, House Democratic leaderHakeem Jeffries criticized the phrase as something which is "widely understood as calling for the complete destruction of Israel".[62] On 8 November 2023, the White House condemned Tlaib for using the phrase.White House Press SecretaryKarine Jean-Pierre said that "when it comes to the phrase that was used, 'from the river to the sea,' it is divisive, it is hurtful, many find it hurtful and many find it antisemitic," and added that the White House "categorically reject[s] applying the term tothe (2023 Israel–Hamas) conflict."[63]
The phrase has been used across social media,[64][65] including onTikTok.[66]
On November 15, 2023, Jewishinfluencers and celebrities confrontedTikTok executives in a private call, to press them to moderate use of the phrase on the platform. Adam Presser, head of operations for TikTok, stated that only content "where it is clear exactly what they mean...that content is violative and we take it down," adding that if "someone is just using it casually, then that has been considered acceptable speech." In a statement, TikTok said that content using the phrase "in a way that threatens violence and spreads hate" is not allowed on the platform.[66] A report byFortune described an additionalZoom call between "about 40 mostly Jewish tech leaders," includingAnthony Goldbloom, and TikTok executives, on November 16, claiming that the platform's algorithm favored "content that supports Palestine over pro-Israel content" and pushing the platform to "reexamine its community guidelines", with the company rejecting "blunt comparisons" of hashtags on the platform and stating that the imbalance of content is not the result of "any kind of intended or unintended bias in its algorithms."[67]
On November 17, 2023,Elon Musk, the owner ofTwitter, announced a policy change, stating that users who use terms like "decolonization" and "from the river to the sea," or similar expressions would be suspended. He claimed these terms were used as euphemisms for extreme violence or genocide.[68] Musk's announcement came after he was criticized for "endorsing an antisemitic post" on the platform two days before, and companies such asIBM,Comcast,Apple,Paramount Global,Disney, andLionsgate announced a pause of ads on the platform.[69][70][71]
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of theAnti-Defamation League, applauded Musk's action on November 17, calling it "an important and welcome move" and praising his "leadership in fighting hate."[70] Greenblatt's statement was reported byThe Guardian as being part of an effort to gain influence on the far right, and that the head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), Yael Eisenstat, quit her position in protest.[72][73] Other ADL staffers expressed their opposition to Greenblatt's move.[74]Rolling Stone stated that it was "doubtful" that Twitter users would be suspended for "repeating either phrase."[68] Noah Lanard ofMother Jones wrote that the new policy would "presumably apply only to those who use the phrase [from the river to the sea] in support of Palestinians" and argued that Musk is "trying to cover up for his own bigotry."[75] Pro-Palestinian users criticized Musk's new policy, arguing he was conflating legitimate political speech with "calls for violence" and was "limiting free speech."[76]
On September 4, 2024,Meta'sOversight Board published a decision that allows the phrase to be used on Meta's platforms, and argued that the phrase on its own does not violate the rules on "Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals".[77]
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The phrase has been used widely in pro-Palestinian protest movements.[78] It has often been chanted at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, usually followed or preceded by the phrase "Palestine will be free" (the phrase rhymes in English, not Arabic).[79][80][81] Interpretations differ amongst its supporters. In a survey conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development on November 14, 74.7% Palestinians agreed that they support a single Palestinian state "from the river to the sea", while only 5.4% of respondents supported a "one-state for two peoples" solution.[82][83][84]
Civic figures, activists, andprogressive publications have said that the phrase calls for aone-state solution: a single, secular state in all ofHistoric Palestine where people of all religions have equal citizenship.[85] This stands in contrast to thetwo-state solution, which envisions a Palestinian state existing alongside a Jewish state.[86][87][88][89] This usage has been described as speaking out for the right of Palestinians "to live freely in the land from the river to the sea", with Palestinian writerYousef Munayyer describing the phrase as "a rejoinder to the fragmentation of Palestinian land and people by Israeli occupation and discrimination."[17] Others have said it stands for "the equal freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people."[88][10]Elliott Colla traces the first evidence of use of the phrase in Palestinian protest culture to theFirst Intifada (1987–1993), with documentation ingraffiti from the period.[26][90][91]
On 8 November 2023,Amazon toldNewsweek that they would not be removing pro-Palestinian merchandise, including garments bearing the phrase, stating that the items do not "contravene our policies," which prohibit sale of products which "promote, incite, or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance."[92]
Some politicians and advocacy groups such as theAnti-Defamation League (ADL)[27] andAmerican Jewish Committee[27] consider the phrase to beantisemitic,hate speech andincitement to genocide.[27][93] They suggest that it denies the right of Jews forself-determination in theirancestral homeland,[27] or advocates for their removal or extermination.[12][94][95] Such critics of the phrase claim that it has been explicitly used to call for the land to be placed entirely under Arab rule at the cost of theState of Israel and its Jewish citizens.[43][96][97]
According to ADL regional director Jonah Steinberg, from the time of the1948 Arab–Israeli War and thereafter "there was a catchphrase of 'pushing the Jews into the sea' and the phrase, 'from the river to the sea' echoes that trope in a menacing way."[98]
Steven Lubet wrote in an opinion piece onThe Hill that if the people promoting this slogan were really interested only in “freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence” as they claim, then they would have changed the slogan to "From the river to the sea,Palestinians will be free."[99] Lubet also says that, according toDEI norms, the racism of a certain speech can be determined not only by the intent of the speaker, but mainly by the impact it has on the people who feel offended or threatened by it. Therefore, he concludes, since most Jews view the slogan as hurtful and threatening, it should be avoided, regardless of what is the real intent of its chanters.[99]
According toSusie Linfield in an interview inSalmagundi magazine, there is nothing wrong with both Jews and Palestinians "pursuing national self-determination". In her opinion, the slogan 'from the river to the sea' represents a rejectionist unwillingness to compromise with the other nation on atwo-state solution, which led the Palestinian leadership to reject thepartition plan in 1947, leading to theNakba, a catastrophe for their people.[100]
On 9 November 2023,Claudine Gay, thepresident of Harvard University at the time, condemned the phrase.[101]
On 17 April 2024,Minouche Shafik, thepresident of Columbia University at the time, said that she herself hears the phrase as antisemitic, but some people do not.[102]
HistorianRichard Wolin said that the phrase "implicitly underwrites the elimination of 9 million Israelis by whatever means necessary..."[103]
Researcher and former negotiator inIsraeli–Palestinian peace process Ahmad Samih Khalidi has responded to criticism which characterizes the phrase as genocidal, "It is perfectly possible for both people to be free between the river and the sea, is 'free' necessarily in itself genocidal? I think any reasonable person would say no. Does it preclude the fact that the Jewish population in the area between the sea and the river cannot also be free? I think any reasonable person would also say no."[104]
Palestinian American writers such asYousef Munayyer and historian Maha Nassar have written that accusations that the phrase is a call to genocide, rely on racist andIslamophobic assumptions about Palestinian intent.[26] AnthropologistNadia Abu El Haj notes that critics who characterize it as "threatening", "intimidating", or a call to "genocidal violence" when it is used in support of Palestine do not make equivalent claims when used by Israelis.[105]
In describing the criticism of the phrase, scholar of politics in the Arab worldElliott Colla writes:
It is the first phrase of the slogan—"from the river to the sea"—that has caused so much fury. Dominant Jewish communal institutions, most prominently the ADL and AJC, have insisted that this phrase is antisemitic. Throughout recent years, they have composed new definitions of antisemitism that render many common expressions of Palestine solidarity asipso facto instances of anti-Jewish hate speech ... the slogan "from the river to the sea" figures prominently in their accusations of antisemiticdoublespeak.[26]
In 2021, over 200 scholars in various fields signed theJerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. The declaration discussed common manifestations of antisemitism, as well as what kinds of speech and behavior are antisemitic and what kind of speech and behavior are not, espacially regarding thePalestine-Israel conflict. According to the authors, "between the river and the sea" is not antisemitic.[106]
ScholarsAmos Goldberg and Alon Confino write in 2024, that it is not generally the case that the phrasing expresses a genocidal and antisemitic intention, instead historical usage articulates political strategies for Palestinian liberation.[107]
Following the2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the BritishHome Secretary at the time,Suella Braverman, proposed prosecuting those using the phrase in certain contexts.[108]
A majority of theDutch parliament declared the phrase to be a call for violence. Thejudiciary, however, ruled in August 2023 that the phrase was protected on free speech grounds, being "subject to various interpretations", including those that "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". The decision was later upheld by theDutch Supreme Court.[11][65][109] In May 2024, a parliamentary motion calling for the criminalization of the slogan passed with a single-vote majority. As a result, prosecutions for inciting violence and hate speech when using the slogan are theoretically possible; however, prosecutions remain difficult in practice.[110]
On 11 October 2023,Vienna police banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration, citing the inclusion of the phrase "from the river to the sea" in invitations, as a justification.[94][111] Politicians inAustria have also considered declaring use of the phrase to be a criminal offense, with Austrian chancellorKarl Nehammer saying that the phrase would be interpreted as a call for murder.[112][113]
On 5 November 2023, inTallinn (Estonia), the police opened criminal proceedings against five rally participants who used "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".[114][115]
On 11 November 2023, the phrase was banned inBavaria (Germany), and "the prosecutor's office and the Bavarian police warned that henceforth its use, regardless of language, will be considered as the use of symbols of terrorist organizations. This may result in punishment of up to three years in prison or a fine".[116] Despite a report of 28 January 2024 by CNN, the phrase was not considered illegal all over Germany. On 22 March 2024 theAdministrative Court ofHesse ruled against an interdiction by the Frankfurt municipality and allowed the phrase in the course of a demonstration the same day.[117][118]
On 16 November 2023, it was reported that users of the phrase may face criminal prosecution in theCzech Republic.[119]
On 17 November 2023, it was reported that the case of a man charged by the police inCalgary, Canada for using the phrase, had beenstayed.[120]
On 16 April 2024, theU.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the phrase as antisemitic, with 377 in favor, 44 against, and 1 absent. The resolution stemmed from controversy surroundingRashida Tlaib's video post featuring the phrase. Tlaib, who voted against the resolution, defended the phrase as aspirational for freedom. While someDemocrats viewed the resolution as divisive, many supported it due to concerns about antisemitism.[121]
First, the odious phrase in question began as a Zionist slogan signifying the boundaries of Eretz Israel. The Likud Party's founding charter reinforces this vision
The Likud Party's founding charter reinforces this vision in its statement that "between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty."... During the mid-1960s, the PLO embraced the slogan, but it meant something altogether different from the Zionist vision of Jewish colonization. Instead, the 1964 and 1968 charters of the Palestine National Council (PNC) demanded "the recovery of the usurped homeland in its entirety" and the restoration of land and rights-including the right of self-determination-to the indigenous population. In other words, the PNC was calling for decolonization, but this did not mean the elimination or exclusion of all Jews from a Palestinian nation-only the settlers or colonists. According to the 1964 Charter, "Jews who are of Palestinian origin shall be considered Palestinians if they are willing to live peacefully and loyally in Palestine.' Following the 1967 war, the Arab National Movement, led by Dr. George Habash, merged with Youth for Revenge and the Palestine Liberation Front to form the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP embraced a Palestinian identity rooted in radical, Third World-oriented nationalism, officially identifying as Marxist-Leninist two years later. It envisioned a single, democratic, potentially socialist Palestinian state in which all peoples would enjoy citizenship. Likewise, Fatah leaders shifted from promoting the expulsion of settlers to embracing all Jews as citizens in a secular, democratic state. As one Fatah leader explained in early 1969, "If we are fighting a Jewish state of a racial kind, which had driven the Arabs out of their lands, it is not so as to replace it with an Arab state which would in turn drive out the Jews... We are ready to look at anything with all our negotiating partners once our right to live in our homeland is recognized." Thus by 1969, "Free Palestine from the river to the sea" came to mean one democratic secular state that would supersede the ethno-religious state of Israel. Moreover, the Palestinian national movement had come to see itself as part of a global anti-imperialist movement in solidarity with other nonaligned or socialist nations, or revolutionary movements like the Black Panthers.
Prior to the establishment of Israel, bothZe'ev Jabotinsky andMenachem Begin subscribed to the idea that the goal of Zionism was one of 'fulfilling what they believed was God's biblical promise of a Jewish homeland from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and even beyond'.
The political-ideological lineage of the Likud party, which Binyamin Netanyahu has run since 2005 (and before that in 1996-99) can be traced back to a fascist-inspired strain of 'revisionist Zionism' which emerged in the interwar period. Before Israel's foundation, this movement campaigned for the Zionist project to incorporate the entire territory of the British mandate on both banks of the Jordan, including Transjordania, which Britain granted to the Hashemite dynasty in 1921, creating present-day Jordan. Later, having focused its ambition on mandatory Palestine, the movement criticised the Zionism favoured by David Ben Gurion's Labour movement (MAPAI), for having stopped fighting in 1949 before it took the West Bank and Gaza.
The irony is that it wasn't the Palestinians, but the Zionists, who first invented this "from the river to the sea" mantra. And that was nearly half a century before the First Intifada and the birth of Hamas.
Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded, irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
الالتزام بأن فلسطين -من النهر إلى البحر- أرض إسلامية عربية يحرم شرعا التفريط في أي شبر منها، والوجود الإسرائيلي في فلسطين وجود باطل، يحرم شرعا الاعتراف به.[The commitment that Palestine – from the river to the sea – is an Arab Islamic land that is legally forbidden from abandoning any inch of it, and the Israeli presence in Palestine is a null existence, which is forbidden by law to recognize it.]
... a message reminiscent of the popular intifada slogan 'Palestine is ours from the river to the sea,' which in the hands of the Islamists became 'Palestine is Islamic from the river to the sea.'
"The only solution for this conflict is the resistance continuing against the Israeli oppression until the establishment of the Palestinian state from the river to the sea," he says, echoing protest chants seen as calling for the destruction of Israel.
After careful consideration, we will be writing to all clubs to make it clear that this phrase is considered offensive to many, and should not be used by players in social media posts. The player has apologised and deleted the tweet. We are strongly encouraging clubs to ensure that players do not post content which may be offensive or inflammatory to any community. If this phrase is used again by a football participant, we will seek police guidance on how we should treat it and respond.
Critics of the group argue that these and other actions risk undermining the civil rights organization's counter-extremism work and say the group has foregone much of its historical mission to fight antisemitism in favor of doing advocacy for Israel.
Thus, the MAB slogan 'Palestine must be free, from the river to the sea' is now ubiquitous in anti-Israeli demonstrations in the UK ...
From the river to the sea" is a rejoinder to the fragmentation of Palestinian land and people by Israeli occupation and discrimination. Palestinians have been divided in a myriad of ways by Israeli policy. There are Palestinian refugees denied repatriation because of discriminatory Israeli laws. There are Palestinians denied equal rights living within Israel's internationally recognized territory as second-class citizens. There are Palestinians living with no citizenship rights under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. There are Palestinians in legal limbo in occupied Jerusalem and facing expulsion. There are Palestinians in Gaza living under an Israeli siege. All of them suffer from a range of policies in a singular system of discrimination and apartheid—a system that can only be challenged by their unified opposition. All of them have a right to live freely in the land from the river to the sea.
When asked "Do you support the solution of establishing one state or two states?" the majority (74.7%) of respondents answered that they support a single Palestinian state "from the river to the sea." The support for a single Palestinian state was more commonly held by Palestinians living in the West Bank (77.7%) than Palestinians living in Gaza (70.4%.) A total of 17.2% of respondents said they supported a two-state solution, with Palestinians in Gaza (22.7%) supporting this solution to a greater extent than Palestinians living in the West Bank (13.3%.) Only 5.4% of respondents said they would support a "one-state for two peoples" solution.
While that may be a tacit acknowledgment of Israel's existence, the revision stops well short of recognizing Israel and reasserts calls for armed resistance toward a 'complete liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.' [...] 'Hamas is attempting to fool the world, but it will not succeed,' said a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office. 'Daily, Hamas leaders call for genocide of all Jews and the destruction of Israel.'
Hamas' ideology of extermination against everything Jewish is also having an effect in Germany," said the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the country's largest umbrella Jewish organization.
... except the boundary indicated in their slogan 'From the river to the sea', which stipulated the obliteration of the Jewish state.
PLO and its leaders remained at bottom committed to Israel's destruction
I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravatedsection 5 public order offence.
