“From the River to the Sea” | #TranslateHate
“From the River to the Sea”
noun \ ‘fruhm ‘thə ‘RIVər ‘too ‘thə ‘si \
: a phrase that can be used to call for the elimination of the State of Israel and/or ethnic cleansing of Jews living there, to be replaced with Palestinian control over the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea
WHEN IT’S ANTISEMITIC:
The phrase “From the River to the Sea,” refers to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It includes the entirety of the territory of the State of Israel (in addition to the West Bank and Gaza, which are not a part of the State of Israel).
While its origins are unknown, in the 1960s and 70s it became the signature phrase of the Palestine Liberation Organization to indicate the replacement of the State of Israel with a State of Palestine extending “from the river to the sea,” including the expulsion of Jews who entered the land after 1947. The phrase soon after became a rallying cry for terrorist groups including Hamas, the group responsible for the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli civilians, murdering over 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage.
The phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” has become prevalent in public discourse, including online and on social media, particularly since the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and in the context of protests opposing Israel’s responding military operation in Gaza.
When the phrase is used with the harmful intent of implying the erasure of the State of Israel, ethnic cleansing of Jews from the land, or simply as harassment of Jews in any other part of the world, it is antisemitic. Indicators of antisemitic usage include when the phrase appears alongside (a) text, images, or symbols signaling violence, including references to organizations that advocate for Israel’s violent destruction like Hamas and their leaders or other symbols associated with them, or (b) text, images, or symbols signaling a call for discrimination against Jews, including the exclusion of Jews (or “Zionists,” as a proxy for Jews or Israelis), from social groups, political institutions, professional settings or the territory of the State of Israel itself. Another phrase – “Globalize the Intifada,” which uses the Arabic word for “uprising” or “shaking off,” feeds a discourse promoting widespread violence against both Israelis and Jews across the globe (see “Globalize the Intifada”).
The call for the establishment of a Palestinian State in addition to the State of Israel or advocacy for Palestinian rights are not antisemitic, and not all who use the phrase “From the River to the Sea” use it with harmful intent. Some assert that their call for Palestine to be free “from the river to the sea” does not require the eradication of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, but simply that all people of Palestinian heritage, wherever they reside, have their rights, culture, and freedoms honored.
