The phrase “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” or “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” may seem innocuous to those unfamiliar with the geography of the region, but in reality, it represents calls for genocide against Jews.
Those of us who follow these issues closely have recoiled whenever we hear the phrase chanted at rallies around the world, or, as was the case last night, projected in massive letters on the library of my alma mater, George Washington University. We may take it for granted that everybody else understands why these words are so alarming. But it strikes me that, to the unacquainted, saying, “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” may seem like an innocent call for people to be free. How could that be objectionable?
Well, the issue is that “from the river to the sea” refers to the entire area in between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — an area that encompasses not just territories captured by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War, but the entirety of Israel. Referring to that entire area as “Palestine” is not a call to end the occupation, to create a two-state solution, or even to return Israel to the borders that existed before 1967. It is a call for the elimination of Israel in its entirety. Israel is home to nearly half of the world’s Jewish population. The only way you can eliminate Israel and turn that whole area into Palestine is by killing millions of Jews.
There is simply no way of getting around the fact that anybody who utters the phrase “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” is advocating genocide.
