{{Short description|Political phrase related to the Palestine region}} {{about|the phrase|the territory historically comprised between the Jordan and the Mediterranean|Palestine (region)}} {{Redirect|Free Palestine|the Palestinian Syrian organized movement|Free Palestine Movement|the European political alliance|Free Palestine Party}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} [[File:Palestine in 2003 NASA satellite image (cropped) (cropped).jpeg|thumb|The region of Palestine, from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west]] "'''From the river to the sea'''" ({{langx|ar|من النهر إلى البحر|min an-nahr ʾilā l-baḥr}}; {{langx|apc-PS|label=Palestinian Arabic|من المياه للمياه|min il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye|from the water to the water}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=Salama Ghamry |first=Heba |date=3 November 2023 |title="فلسطين من النهر إلى البحر".. ماذا يعني الشعار ومن أين جاء؟ |trans-title="Palestine from the river to the sea"... What does the slogan mean and where did it come from? |url=https://icona.almasryalyoum.com/فلسطين-من-النهر-إلى-البحر-ماذا-يعني/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001103511/https://icona.almasryalyoum.com/فلسطين-من-النهر-إلى-البحر-ماذا-يعني/ |archive-date=1 October 2024 |website=Icona – Al-Masry Al-Youm |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2 November 2017 |title=الاحتلال يقمع وقفة منددة بوعد بلفور بالقدس |trans-title=The occupation suppresses a protest denouncing the Balfour Declaration in Jerusalem. |url=https://www.arab48.com/فلسطينيات/أخبار/2017/11/02/الاحتلال-يقمع-وقفة-منددة-بوعد-بلفور-بالقدس- |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116082624/https://www.arab48.com/فلسطينيات/أخبار/2017/11/02/الاحتلال-يقمع-وقفة-منددة-بوعد-بلفور-بالقدس- |archive-date=16 November 2023 |access-date=13 November 2023 |website=Arab48 |language=ar}}</ref> is a political slogan that refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – an area historically known as ''Palestine'', which was formerly ruled by the British as Mandatory Palestine,<ref name="timesofisrael.com">{{cite news |first=Ben |last=Sales |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-the-river-to-the-sea-the-slogan-that-led-to-rashida-tlaibs-censure-explained/ |title='From the river to the sea': The slogan that led to Rashida Tlaib's censure, explained |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=8 November 2023 |access-date=12 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201084620/https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-the-river-to-the-sea-the-slogan-that-led-to-rashida-tlaibs-censure-explained/ |archive-date=1 February 2025}}</ref> and which today encompasses Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Economist2023">{{cite news |date=28 October 2023 |title=The culture war over the Gaza war |url=https://www.economist.com/international/2023/10/28/the-culture-war-over-the-gaza-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030143154/https://www.economist.com/international/2023/10/28/the-culture-war-over-the-gaza-war |archive-date=30 October 2023 |access-date=29 October 2023 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref><ref name="WashingtonPost2023">{{Cite news |first=Jack |last=Stripling |date=31 December 2023 |title=Colleges braced for antisemitism and violence. It's happening. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/31/antisemitism-college-campuses-jewish-hamas-gaza/ |access-date=1 November 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308204004/https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/31/antisemitism-college-campuses-jewish-hamas-gaza/ |archive-date=8 March 2024}}</ref> The phrase and its variations have been used both by Palestinians and Israelis<ref name="Kelley-2019"/> to mean that the area should consist of one state, rather than two or three.
In the 1960s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) used it to call for what they saw as a "decolonized" state encompassing the entirety of Mandatory Palestine.<ref name="Kelley 2019 pp. 69–91">{{harvp|Kelley|2019|pp=|ps=: "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.'{{nbsp}}[...] 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{{nbsp}}[...] 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."}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Kelley 2019 pp. 69–91" />
Many pro-Palestinian activists describe the phrase as a call for peace, equality and an end to Israeli military rule over Palestinians, while many Jewish groups and others interpret it as a call for the destruction of Israel.<ref name="AP6words">{{Cite news |last=Kellman |first=Laurie |date=10 November 2023 |title='From the river to the sea': Why these 6 words spark fury and passion over the Israel-Hamas war |url=https://apnews.com/article/river-sea-israel-gaza-hamas-protests-d7abbd756f481fe50b6fa5c0b907cd49 |access-date=26 May 2025 |publisher=Associated Press |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112005459/https://apnews.com/article/river-sea-israel-gaza-hamas-protests-d7abbd756f481fe50b6fa5c0b907cd49 |archive-date=12 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Frequently, at pro-Palestine protests around the world, it has been used as a chant or rallying cry.<ref name="AP6words" /> Hamas used the phrase in its 2017 charter; usage of the phrase by such Palestinian militant groups has led critics to say that it advocates for the dismantling of Israel, and the removal or extermination of its Jewish population.<ref name="dawn.com">{{Cite web |date=28 October 2023 |title='From the river to the sea': Why a chant for the freedom of an occupied people became so provocative |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1784138 |access-date=31 October 2023 |website=Dawn.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="AP6words" /> Some countries have considered criminalizing its use as an antisemitic call for violence.<ref name="nos.nl-2023">{{Cite web |date=25 October 2023 |title='From the river to the sea'-leus is geweldsoproep, vindt Kamermeerderheid |trans-title='From the river to the sea' slogan is a call for violence, according to the majority in the House of Representatives |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2495345-from-the-river-to-the-sea-leus-is-geweldsoproep-vindt-kamermeerderheid |access-date=2 November 2023 |website=nos.nl |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031170542/https://nos.nl/artikel/2495345-from-the-river-to-the-sea-leus-is-geweldsoproep-vindt-kamermeerderheid |archive-date=31 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="Eichner-2023">{{Cite news |last=Eichner |first=Itamar |date=25 October 2023 |title=Austria's Nehammer says pro-Hamas chants will become criminal offense |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hybmet8ma |access-date=26 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250110040643/https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hybmet8ma |archive-date=10 January 2025}}</ref> In other cases, courts and authorities have found that the phrase can fall within protected freedom of expression, depending on context, intent, and how it is used.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Perkins |first=Tom |date=2026-03-19 |title=Efforts to shut down pro-Palestinian speech face series of setbacks in court |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/19/pro-palestinian-speech-antisemitism-lawsuits |access-date=2026-04-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
An early Zionist 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 a Greater Israel, an entity conceived as extending from the Jordan to the sea.<ref name="Bronner 2005">{{cite news |last=Bronner |first=Ethan |author-link=Ethan Bronner |date=14 August 2005 |title=Why 'Greater Israel' Never Came to Be |work=The New York Times |issn=1553-8095 |id={{proquest|2227308924}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/weekinreview/why-greater-israel-never-came-to-be.html |url-access=limited}} (Citing David Kimche.)</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=[Ze'ev] Jabotinsky's goal, and that of his young follower Menachem Begin, was fulfilling what they believed was the historic Jewish homeland in the Bible from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and even beyond. |first=Stuart E. |last=Eizenstat |author-link=Stuart E. Eizenstat |title=President Carter: The White House Years |chapter=The Clash of Peace and Politics |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |publication-place=New York |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-250-10457-1 |page= |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdIwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT270 |via=Google Books}}{{Page needed|date=March 2026}}</ref> The phrase has also been used by Israeli politicians. The 1977 election manifesto of the right-wing Israeli Likud party said: "Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty."<ref name="Laquer2001" /><ref name="JVLLikud" /><ref name="Gdnwhatmean" /> Similar wording, such as referring to the area "west of the Jordan river", has also been used in the 2020s by other Israeli politicians,<ref name="timesofisrael.com" /> including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 18 January 2024.<ref name="AJ111"/><ref name="Beaumont 2024">{{Cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=18 January 2024 |title=Netanyahu tells US he opposes creation of Palestinian state after Gaza war |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/netanyahu-tells-us-opposes-palestinian-state-after-gaza-war |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Historical usage == {{See also|Mandatory Palestine|Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}
The precise origins of the phrase are disputed.<ref name="Coryton-2023">{{Cite journal |last=Coryton |first=Demitri |date=22 November 2023 |title="From the river to the sea" – is this slogan anti-Semitic? |url= |journal=Education Journal |issue=542}}</ref> According to the American historian Robin D. G. Kelley, the phrase "began as a Zionist slogan signifying the boundaries of ''Eretz Israel''."<ref name="Kelley-2019">{{cite journal |first=Robin D.G. |last=Kelley |date=2019 |title=From the River to the Sea to Every Mountain Top: Solidarity as Worldmaking |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=69–91 |doi=10.1525/jps.2019.48.4.69 |jstor=26873236 |s2cid=204447333 |issn=1533-8614 |quote=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}}</ref> The Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov notes that Zionist usage of such language predates the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and began with the Revisionist movement of Zionism led by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, which spoke of establishing a Jewish state in all of Palestine and had a song, "The East Bank of the Jordan", 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.<ref name="bbc.com">{{Cite web |date=14 November 2023 |title={{'}}man alnahr 'iilaa albahri{{'}} shiear 'athar aljadal fi 'uwrubaa wabiritania, fama tarikh hadha alshieari? |script-title=ar:'من النهر إلى البحر' شعار أثار الجدل في أوروبا وبريطانيا، فما تاريخ هذا الشعار؟ |trans-title="From the river to the sea" is a slogan that has sparked controversy in Europe and Britain. What is the history of this slogan? |url=https://www.bbc.com/arabic/67420634 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215204707/https://www.bbc.com/arabic/67420634 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |access-date=29 November 2023 |website=BBC News Arabic |language=ar}}</ref> In 1977, the concept appeared in an election manifesto of the Israeli political party Likud, which stated that "between the sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty".<ref name="JVLLikud">{{cite web |title=Likud Party: Original Party Platform 1977 |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/original-party-platform-of-the-likud-party |access-date=16 November 2023 |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref><ref name="Abu El-Haj 2023">{{Cite web |first=Nadia |last=Abu El-Haj |date=17 November 2023 |title=Zionism's Political Unconscious |url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/zionism-s-political-unconscious |access-date=29 November 2023 |publisher=Verso Books |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217005140/https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/zionism-s-political-unconscious |archive-date=17 December 2024}}</ref> The current ideology of the Israeli government in 2024 is rooted in Revisionist Zionism, which sought the entire territory of Mandatory Palestine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 2023 |title=Israeli far right's plans for expulsion and expansion |url=https://mondediplo.com/2023/12/02gaza |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119073821/https://mondediplo.com/2023/12/02gaza |archive-date=19 January 2025 |work=Le Monde diplomatique |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2018-12-16/ty-article-opinion/.premium/hamas-owes-its-from-the-river-to-the-sea-slogan-to-zionists/0000017f-deef-d3ff-a7ff-ffef96ca0000 |title=Hamas owes its 'Palestine from the river to the sea' slogan to Zionism |first=Seraj |last=Assi |date=16 December 2018 |newspaper=Haaretz |quote=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. |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231222153520/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2018-12-16/ty-article-opinion/.premium/hamas-owes-its-from-the-river-to-the-sea-slogan-to-zionists/0000017f-deef-d3ff-a7ff-ffef96ca0000 |archive-date=22 December 2023}}</ref>
The Middle East scholar Elliott 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.<ref name="Colla-2023">{{Cite web |last=Colla |first=Elliott |author-link=Elliott Colla |date=16 November 2023 |title=On the history, meaning, and power of "From the River To the Sea" |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/on-the-history-meaning-and-power-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea/ |access-date=19 November 2023 |website=Mondoweiss |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114143700/https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/on-the-history-meaning-and-power-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea/ |archive-date=14 January 2025}}</ref> In his opinion, these include: the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine, which proposed to divide the land between the river and the sea; the 1948 Nakba, in which that plan materialized; the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza; the Oslo Accords, that (in his view) fragmented the West Bank into Palestinian enclaves (that he describes as "an archipelago of Bantustans surrounded by Israeli settlements, bases, and checkpoints"); and the Israeli separation wall first erected after the Second Intifada.<ref name="Colla-2023" />
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 by Palestinians 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 of Jordan in the West Bank and from the rule of Egypt in the Gaza Strip.<ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887" />
The origins of Palestinian usage of this phrase are unclear. Kelley writes that the phrase was adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the mid-1960s;<ref name=":JPS">{{Cite journal |last=Muslih |first=Muhammad |date=1990 |title=Towards Coexistence: An Analysis of the Resolutions of the Palestine National Council |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |language=en |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=3–29 |doi=10.2307/2537386 |issn=1533-8614 |jstor=2537386}}</ref><ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887"/> while Elliott Colla notes that "it is unclear when and where the slogan "from the river to the sea," first emerged within Palestinian protest culture."<ref name="Colla-2023" /> In November 2023, Colla wrote that he had not encountered the phrase — in either Standard nor Levantine Arabic — in Palestinian revolutionary media of the 1960s and 1970s and noted that "the phrase appears nowhere in the Palestinian National Charters of 1964 or 1968, nor in the Hamas Charter of 1988."<ref name="Colla-2023"/>
The 1964 charter of the PLO's Palestinian 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".<ref name=":JPS"/> 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.<ref name=":JPS" /><ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887">{{cite news |last=Hernandez |first=Joe |date=9 November 2023 |title=How interpretations of the phrase 'from the river to the sea' made it so divisive |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211671117/how-interpretations-of-the-phrase-from-the-river-to-the-sea-made-it-so-divisive |access-date=10 November 2023 |work=NPR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220174432/https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211671117/how-interpretations-of-the-phrase-from-the-river-to-the-sea-made-it-so-divisive |archive-date=20 February 2025}}</ref> In the 1969 revision, the PLO promised equal citizenship to all Jews, including those who had recently immigrated, if they renounced Zionism.<ref name=":JPS" /> 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.<ref name="Kelley 2019 pp. 69–91" />
In 1979, the phrase was invoked by delegates attending the Palestine Congress of North America.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Turki |first1=Fawaz |title=The Passions of Exile: The Palestine Congress of North America |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |date=1980 |volume=9 |issue=4 |page=38 |doi=10.2307/2536123 |jstor=2536123 |issn=1533-8614}}</ref>
[[File:Occupied Palestinian Territories.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Map showing Israel and the Palestinian Territories as outlined by the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Jordan River is on the right, and the Mediterranean Sea is on the left.]] Colla notes that activists of the First 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 as Saleh Abd al-Jawad's "{{Transliteration|ar|Faṣāʾil al-ḥaraka l-waṭaniyya l-Filasṭīniyya fī l-ʾarāḍī l-muḥtalla wa-shuʿārāt al-judrān|i=no}}" (1991)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/ar/node/35257 |script-title=ar:فصائل الحركة الوطنية الفلسطينية في الأراضي المحتلة وشعارات الجدران |language=ar |title=fasayil alharakat alwataniat alfilastiniat fi al'aradi almuhtalat washiearat aljudran |trans-title=Factions of the Palestinian National Movement in the occupied territories and wall slogans}}</ref> and Julie Peteet's "The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada" (1996).<ref name="Peteet 1996">{{Cite journal |title=The Writing on the Walls: The Graffiti of the Intifada |last=Peteet |first=Julie |year=1996 |journal=Cultural Anthropology |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=139–159 |doi=10.1525/can.1996.11.2.02a00010 |jstor=656446 |issn=0886-7356 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Colla-2023" />
The phrase appeared in a 2021 B'Tselem report entitled "A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This Is Apartheid" that described Israel's ''de facto'' rule over the territory from the river to the sea, through its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip, as a regime of apartheid.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Noy |first=Orly |date=12 January 2021 |title=Why B'Tselem is calling Israel an apartheid regime, from the river to the sea |url=https://www.972mag.com/btselem-israel-apartheid-supremacy/ |access-date=28 November 2023 |magazine=+972 Magazine |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250110111210/https://www.972mag.com/btselem-israel-apartheid-supremacy/ |archive-date=10 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=B'Tselem (Document): A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This Is Apartheid |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650915 |date=12 January 2021 |access-date=28 November 2023 |publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies |language=en}}</ref>
== Variations == The different versions of the slogan that developed over the time emphasize different aspects of the Palestinian struggle. The version {{lang|ar-Latn|min an-nahr ʾilā l-baḥr / Filasṭīn sa-tataḥarrar}} ({{lang|ar|من النهر إلى البحر / فلسطين ستتحرر}}, "from the river to the sea / Palestine will be free") has a focus on liberation and freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ioanes |first=Ellen |date=24 November 2023 |title=The controversial phrase "from the river to sea," explained |url=https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23972967/river-to-sea-palestine-israel-hamas |access-date=2 December 2023 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211220511/https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23972967/river-to-sea-palestine-israel-hamas |archive-date=11 February 2025 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Colla-2023" /> The version {{lang|apc-Latn|min il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye / Falasṭīn ʿarabiyye}} ({{Lang|apc|من المية للمية / فلسطين عربية}}, "from the water to the water / Palestine is Arab") has an Arab nationalist sentiment, and the version {{lang|apc-Latn|min il-ṃayye la-l-ṃayye / Falasṭīn ʾislāmiyye}} ({{Lang|apc|من المية للمية / فلسطين إسلامية}}, "from the water to the water / Palestine is Islamic") has Islamic sentiment.<ref name="Colla-2023"/> According to Colla, the latter two versions have been used in the graffiti of the late 1980s, the period of the First Intifada.<ref name="Colla-2023" /> The rhyming "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"—the translation of {{lang|ar-Latn|min 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.<ref name="Colla-2023" />
Similar formulations have been used by Zionists and Israelis. Omer Bartov notes the song "The East Bank of the Jordan" (1929) by the Revisionist Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky (1880–1940) used the formulation {{Transliteration|he|shtei gadót le-Yardén: zo shelánu, zo gam kan}} ({{Lang|he|שתי גדות לירדן: זו שלנו, זו גם כן}}, "the Jordan has two banks; this one is ours, and the other one too").<ref name="bbc.com" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 November 2023 |title="From the River to the Sea": Omer Bartov on Contested Slogan & Why Two-State Solution Is Not Viable |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/10/bartov_two_state |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119170204/https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/10/bartov_two_state |archive-date=19 January 2025 |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=Democracy Now! |language=en}}</ref> The Likud Party used the formulation {{Transliteration|he|ben ha-yam le-Yardén tihyé rak ribonút israelít}} ({{Lang|he|בין הים לירדן תהיה רק ריבונות ישראלית}}, "between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty").<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Adelson |first1=Daniel |date=10 November 2023 |title= |script-title=he:"מהנהר לים פלסטין תהיה חופשית": הסיסמה שמעוררת סערה עולמית |trans-title="From the river to the sea Palestine will be free": the slogan that causes a global uproar |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/ryjgqisxt |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=Ynet |location=New York |language=he}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Khalidi |first=Rashid |date=22 November 2023 |title=It's Time to Confront Israel's Version of "From the River to the Sea" |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/its-time-to-confront-israels-version-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea/ |work=The Nation |access-date=3 January 2024 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>
== Usage == {{Palestinian nationalism sidebar|Principles}} ===Use by Palestinian militant groups=== Hamas, as part of its revised 2017 charter, rejected "any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea", referring to all areas of former Mandatory Palestine and by extension, the end of Jewish sovereignty in the region.<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/><ref>{{cite web |title=A Document of General Principles and Policies (Hamas General Charter, rev. 2017) |website=FAS |publisher=Hamas |url=https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/hamas-2017.pdf |access-date=27 October 2023 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Hamas says it accepts '67 borders, but doesn't recognize Israel">{{cite news |last=Qiblawi |first=Tamara |title='Hamas says it accepts '67 borders, but doesn't recognize Israel |work=CNN |date=3 May 2017 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/01/middleeast/hamas-charter-palestinian-israeli/ |access-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203115614/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/01/middleeast/hamas-charter-palestinian-israeli/ |archive-date=3 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Demirjian Stack 2023 m226">{{cite news |last1=Demirjian |first1=Karoun |last2=Stack |first2=Liam |date=9 November 2023 |title=In Congress and on Campuses, 'From the River to the Sea' Inflames Debate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/river-to-the-sea-israel-gaza-palestinians.html |access-date=10 November 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250213044759/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/river-to-the-sea-israel-gaza-palestinians.html |archive-date=13 February 2025 |url-access=limited}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hamas in 2017: The document in full |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-2017-document-full |access-date=16 August 2025 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> Many scholars see Hamas' acceptance of the 1967 borders as a tacit acceptance of another entity on the other side.<ref>{{Multiref2 | {{Cite book |last=Brenner |first=Björn |title=Gaza Under Hamas: From Islamic Democracy to Islamist Governance |date=2022 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-78673-142-5 |pages=206 |doi=10.5040/9781350986558 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhOMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 |via=Google Books |ref=none}} | {{Cite book |editor-last=Zartman |editor-first=Jonathan K. |title=Conflict in the Modern Middle East: An Encyclopedia of Civil War, Revolutions, and Regime Change |date=2020 |publisher=ABC-Clio |isbn=978-1-4408-6502-2 |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |pages=230 |chapter=Palestine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Conflict_in_the_Modern_Middle_East.html?id=it_EEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |via=Google Books |ref=none}} | {{cite book |last1=Ismael |first1=Tareq Y. |last2=Ismael |first2=Jacqueline S. |title=Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East: Discontinuity and Turbulence |publisher=Routledge |publication-place=London |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-003-19809-3 |edition=3rd |page=84 |chapter=The Legacy of Islam: Past and Present |doi=10.4324/9781003198093-4 |ref=none}}{{request quotation|date=March 2026}} | {{Cite book |last=Seurat |first=Leila |title=The Foreign Policy of Hamas: Ideology, Decision Making and Political Supremacy |date=2022 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-83860-745-6 |pages=61–62 |doi=10.5040/9781838607487 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OG1WEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |via=Google Books |ref=none}} }}</ref>
Palestinian Islamic Jihad declared that "from the river to the sea{{snd}} [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.<ref name="ij1">{{cite news |title=Islamic Jihad Movement |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/2004/10/03/حركة-الجهاد-الإسلامي-3 |work=Al Jazeera |access-date=31 October 2023 |quote=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. |trans-quote=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.}}</ref> Islamists have used a version "Palestine is Islamic from the river to the sea".<ref name="BarbaraBarbara2005">{{cite book |first1=Anne Marie |last1=Oliver |first2=Paul F. |last2=Steinberg |title=The Road to Martyrs' Square: A Journey into the World of the Suicide Bomber |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YRsvH8M8CesC&pg=PA33 |date=1 February 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-802756-0 |page=33 |quote=[...] 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.' |via=Google Books}}</ref>
===Similar sayings by the Israeli right=== The phrase was also used by the Israeli ruling Likud 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."<ref name="Laquer2001">{{cite book |last1=Laquer |first1=Walter |title=The Israel-Arab Reader: a Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict |last2=Rubin |first2=Barry |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-311379-9 |pages=206–207}}</ref><ref name="JVLLikud" /><ref name="Gdnwhatmean">{{cite news |first=Daniel |last=Boffey |title='From the river to the sea': where does the slogan come from and what does it mean? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/from-the-river-to-the-sea-where-does-the-slogan-come-from-and-what-does-it-mean-israel-palestine |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250306004429/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/from-the-river-to-the-sea-where-does-the-slogan-come-from-and-what-does-it-mean-israel-palestine |archive-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> Likud party leader and prime minister Menachem Begin said that "Judea and Samaria are an inseparable part of Israel's sovereignty".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steinberg |first1=Gerald M. |last2=Rubinovitz |first2=Ziv |title=Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process: Between Ideology and Political Realism |date=2019 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |page=52 |isbn=978-0-253-03955-2 |URL=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqyIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Most recently this has been stated by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<ref name="AJ111">{{Cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/israels-netanyahu-reiterates-rejection-of-palestinian-state-after-gaza-war |title=Israel's Netanyahu reiterates rejection of Palestinian state after Gaza war |date=18 January 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226145500/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/18/israels-netanyahu-reiterates-rejection-of-palestinian-state-after-gaza-war |archive-date=26 December 2024}}</ref><ref name="Beaumont 2024" /><ref name="Coryton-2023" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://newrepublic.com/post/178243/benjamin-netanyahu-literally-says-from-the-river-to-the-sea |title=Benjamin Netanyahu Just Said 'From the River to the Sea' |magazine=The New Republic}}</ref> Similar wording has also been used more recently by other Israeli politicians, such as Gideon Sa'ar and also Uri Ariel of The Jewish Home. In 2014 Ariel said, "Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea there will be only one state, which is Israel."<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/> Similar wording has also been used more recently by other Israeli politicians.<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/>
=== Use internationally === [[File:From the river to the sea Palestine will be free sign at Harvard Free Palestine Camp 25 (cropped).jpg|thumb|A banner displayed at an encampment at Harvard University In Massachusetts reads "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," May 2024.]] [[File:Graffiti at TSC for Palestine 13.jpg|thumb|Graffiti at the Teacher-Student Centre, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh]] Among the materials recovered by American forces during the killing of al-Qaeda founder Osama 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."<ref>{{cite web |last1=bin Laden |first1=Osama |title=To The American People |url=https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ubl2016/english/To%20the%20American%20people.pdf |website=dni.gov |publisher=Director of National Intelligence |access-date=26 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808095554/https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ubl2016/english/To%20the%20American%20people.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/01/osama-bin-ladens-video-collection-included-where-in-the-world-is-osama-bin-laden/ |title=Osama bin Laden's video collection included 'Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?' |newspaper=The Washington Post |first1=Cleve R. Jr. |last1=Wootson |date=1 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210210359/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/01/osama-bin-ladens-video-collection-included-where-in-the-world-is-osama-bin-laden/ |archive-date=10 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2017-press-releases-statements/cia-releases-additional-files-recovered-in-ubl-compound-raid.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101184000/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2017-press-releases-statements/cia-releases-additional-files-recovered-in-ubl-compound-raid.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 November 2017 |title=CIA Releases Nearly 470,000 Additional Files Recovered in May 2011 Raid on Usama Bin Ladin's Compound |date=1 November 2017 |location=Langley, Va. |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bin Laden's Bookshelf |url=https://www.dni.gov/index.php/features/bin-laden-s-bookshelf?start=2 |website=dni.gov |publisher=Office of the Director of National Intelligence |access-date=26 December 2023 |archive-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427083016/https://www.dni.gov/index.php/features/bin-laden-s-bookshelf?start=2 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 27 September 2008, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan 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."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rubin |first1=Barry |title=Israel's "Northern Front": Relations with Syria and Lebanon |journal=The Ambassadors Review |date=Fall 2008 |url=https://www.americanambassadors.org/publications/ambassadors-review/fall-2008/israel-s-northern-front-relations-with-syria-and-lebanon |access-date=26 December 2023 |publisher=Council of American Ambassadors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814132905/https://www.americanambassadors.org/publications/ambassadors-review/fall-2008/israel-s-northern-front-relations-with-syria-and-lebanon |archive-date=14 August 2022}}</ref> Former Iranian President Ebrahim 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 2023 |title=Iran's Raisi: The only solution is 'a Palestinian state from the river to the sea' |work=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/irans-raisi-the-only-solution-is-a-palestinian-state-from-the-river-to-the-sea/ |quote="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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 November 2023 |title=Establishment of Palestinian state is 'only solution': Iran's Raisi |url=https://en.royanews.tv/news/46359/2023-11-11 |access-date=11 November 2023 |website=en.royanews.tv |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111153718/https://en.royanews.tv/news/46359/2023-11-11 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 2023 |title=Israel-Hamas war, Day 36 LIVE updates {{!}} Iran's Raisi hails Hamas, urges Islamic states' sanctions on Israel |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israel-hamas-gaza-palestine-war-conflict-live-updates-november-11-2023/article67523936.ece |access-date=11 November 2023 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In 2003, then–Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, during a speech commemorating the anniversary of the Iraqi Army's establishment, referred to the Palestinian people and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, stating "Long live Palestine, free and Arab, from the sea to the river".<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 January 2003 |title=Full text: Saddam Hussein's speech |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/06/iraq1 |access-date=26 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906201117/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/06/iraq1 |archive-date=6 September 2024}}</ref>
On 30 November 2018, CNN fired the American academic Marc Lamont Hill from his position as a political commentator after he delivered a speech at the United Nations on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/><ref name="AP 2018">{{cite news |date=29 November 2018 |title=CNN fires analyst Marc Lamont Hill after UN speech on Israel |work=Associated Press News |url=https://apnews.com/article/0ac22d83c0d7454d939f0009d0049a91 |access-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527102304/https://apnews.com/article/0ac22d83c0d7454d939f0009d0049a91 |archive-date=27 May 2021}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite speech |last=Hill |first=Marc Lamont |event=Special Meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People |location=New York |title=Speech on the 70th Anniversary of the Nakba |date=30 November 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U8ZqI8N0ck |access-date=11 October 2023}}</ref> The ADL accused Hill of using the phrase "from the river to the sea" as code for the destruction of Israel.<ref name="AP 2018" /> 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?"<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/>
On 30 October 2023, British Member of Parliament Andy McDonald was suspended from the Labour 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".<ref name="Gdnwhatmean" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Gutteridge |first=Nick |date=30 October 2023 |title=Labour MP Andy McDonald suspended over 'between the river and the sea' speech |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/10/30/labour-mp-andy-mcdonald-suspended-river-sea-speech/ |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231030212823/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/10/30/labour-mp-andy-mcdonald-suspended-river-sea-speech/ |archive-date=30 October 2023 |issn=0307-1235 |url-access=limited}}</ref> 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."<ref name="AP6words"/>
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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ofori |first=Morgan |date=1 November 2023 |title=FA will consult police if players use 'river to sea' phrase on social media |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/01/fa-will-consult-police-if-players-use-river-to-sea-phrase-on-social-media |access-date=1 November 2023 |work=The Guardian |quote=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. |agency=PA Media}}</ref> On November 5 the Met Police stopped working with an adviser who chanted the slogan during a protest saying this appears "antisemitic and contrary with our values".<ref>{{Cite news |first=Samuel |last=Osborne |date=5 November 2023 |title=Met Police cuts ties with adviser who led controversial chant at pro-Palestinian rally |url=https://news.sky.com/story/met-police-cuts-ties-with-adviser-who-led-controversial-chant-at-pro-palestine-rally-13001428 |access-date=18 April 2024 |work=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Rally for Gaza in Columbus, 2023-11-12 (8231-57).jpg|thumb|right|Pro-Palestinian protestor holding a sign in Columbus, Ohio]] On 7{{nbsp}}November 2023, United States Representative Rashida Tlaib was censured by the House of Representatives in part for using the phrase,<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/><ref name="nbccensure">{{cite news |date=7 November 2023 |title=House censures Rep. Rashida Tlaib over Israel remarks |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-censure-rashida-tlaib-israel-hamas-palestine-remarks-rcna124005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108071851/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-censure-rashida-tlaib-israel-hamas-palestine-remarks-rcna124005 |archive-date=8 November 2023 |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=NBC News}}</ref> which Tlaib defended as "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate". Before the vote, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the phrase as something which is "widely understood as calling for the complete destruction of Israel".<ref name="nyt-guo-23">{{cite news |last1=Guo |first1=Kayla |date=7 November 2023 |title=House Moves Closer to Censuring Tlaib, Citing 'River to the Sea' Slogan |work=The New York Times |issn=1553-8095 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/us/politics/tlaib-censure-house-israel-gaza.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107205006/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/us/politics/tlaib-censure-house-israel-gaza.html |archive-date=7 November 2023 |url-access=limited}}</ref> On 8 November 2023, the White House condemned Tlaib for using the phrase. White House Press Secretary Karine 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 to the (2023 Israel–Hamas) conflict."<ref>{{cite news |last=Friedman |first=Lisa |date=8 November 2023 |title=The White House condemns Rashida Tlaib's embrace of the 'River to the Sea' slogan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/world/middleeast/rashida-tlaib-palestine-israel.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109011733/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/world/middleeast/rashida-tlaib-palestine-israel.html |archive-date=9 November 2023 |access-date=7 November 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=1553-8095 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
=== Use on social media === The phrase has been used across social media,<ref name="AP6words" /><ref name="wpprotectedspeech">{{cite news |last=Pietch |first=Bryan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/14/river-sea-free-palestine-meaning/ |title='From the river to the sea': Why a Palestinian rallying cry ignites dispute |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119205750/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/14/river-sea-free-palestine-meaning/ |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> including on TikTok.<ref name="nytimestiktok">{{cite news |last=Maheshwari |first=Sapna |date=16 November 2023 |title=Jewish Celebrities and Influencers Confront TikTok Executives in Private Call |work=The New York Times |issn=1553-8095 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/technology/tiktok-jewish-open-letter-antisemitism.html |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117005209/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/technology/tiktok-jewish-open-letter-antisemitism.html |archive-date=17 November 2023 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref>
On 15 November 2023, Jewish influencers and celebrities confronted TikTok 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.<ref name="nytimestiktok" /> A report by ''Fortune'' described an additional Zoom call between "about 40 mostly Jewish tech leaders," including Anthony Goldbloom, and TikTok executives, on 16 November, 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."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lev-Ram |first=Michael |url=https://fortune.com/2023/11/30/40-tech-leaders-founders-bonobos-tinder-gusto-meeting-tiktok-ceo-israel-palestine-content/ |title=Jewish tech leaders met with TikTok's CEO to raise concerns that the platform is biased toward Pro-Palestine content |magazine=Fortune |date=30 November 2023 |access-date=2 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201110813/https://fortune.com/2023/11/30/40-tech-leaders-founders-bonobos-tinder-gusto-meeting-tiktok-ceo-israel-palestine-content/ |archive-date=1 December 2023 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
On 17 November 2023, Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, 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.<ref name="MuskPolicyChange">{{cite magazine |first=Miles |last=Klee |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/musk-from-the-river-to-the-sea-twitter-suspension-1234886216/ |title=Musk Tries to Clean Up His Antisemitic Remark With New Twitter Rule |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=17 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119042520/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/musk-from-the-river-to-the-sea-twitter-suspension-1234886216/ |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> Musk's announcement came after he was criticized for "endorsing an antisemitic post" on the platform two days before, and companies such as IBM, Comcast, Apple, Paramount Global, Disney, and Lionsgate announced a pause of ads on the platform.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/elon-musk-genocidal-terms-like-from-the-river-to-the-sea-to-result-in-suspension/ |title=Elon Musk: Genocidal terms like 'from the river to the sea' to result in suspension |work=Times of Israel |date=18 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119014454/https://www.timesofisrael.com/elon-musk-genocidal-terms-like-from-the-river-to-the-sea-to-result-in-suspension/ |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="cnbc2023" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Korach |first1=Natalie |last2=Roe |first2=Mike |url=https://www.thewrap.com/apple-lionsgate-elon-musk-antisemitic-x-twitter-advertising/ |title=Disney, Apple, Warner Bros. Among Mass Advertiser Exodus From Elon Musk's X Following Antisemitic Post |website=The Wrap |date=17 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118191742/https://www.thewrap.com/apple-lionsgate-elon-musk-antisemitic-x-twitter-advertising/ |archive-date=18 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, applauded Musk's action on 17 November, calling it "an important and welcome move" and praising his "leadership in fighting hate."<ref name="cnbc2023">{{cite news |last=Vanian |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/17/apple-has-paused-advertising-on-x-after-musk-promoted-antisemitic-tweet.html |title=Apple, Disney, other media companies pause advertising on X after Elon Musk boosted antisemitic tweet |work=CNBC |date=17 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119160359/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/17/apple-has-paused-advertising-on-x-after-musk-promoted-antisemitic-tweet.html |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Greenblatt's statement was reported by ''The 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.<ref name="JC11">{{cite web |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |work=Jewish Currents |date=4 January 2024 |accessdate=5 January 2024 |title=Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO's Praise of Elon Musk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/adl-elon-musk-controversy/ |work=Vice |access-date=5 January 2024 |date=21 December 2023 |title=At Leading Anti-Hate Group, Boss's Embrace of Elon Musk Raises Tensions}}</ref> Other ADL staffers expressed their opposition to Greenblatt's move.<ref name="TG11">{{cite web |date=5 January 2024 |title=Anti-Defamation League staff decry 'dishonest' campaign against Israel critics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |access-date=5 January 2024 |work=The Guardian |quote=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.}}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' stated that it was "doubtful" that Twitter users would be suspended for "repeating either phrase."<ref name="MuskPolicyChange" /> Noah Lanard of ''Mother 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."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lanard |first=Noah |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |title=ADL Celebrates Elon Musk's Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Speech |website=Mother Jones |date=18 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119073700/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pro-Palestinian users criticized Musk's new policy, arguing he was conflating legitimate political speech with "calls for violence" and was "limiting free speech."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/say-river-sea-get-suspended-x-musk |title=X boss Elon Musk says using 'from the river to the sea' to result in suspension from platform |website=The New Arab |date=18 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119210326/https://www.newarab.com/news/say-river-sea-get-suspended-x-musk |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 4 September 2024, Meta's Oversight 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".<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 September 2024 |title=New Decision Highlights Why Standalone Use of "From the River to the Sea" Should Not Lead to Content Removal |url=https://www.oversightboard.com/news/new-decision-highlights-why-standalone-use-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea-should-not-lead-to-content-removal/ |access-date=4 September 2024 |website=Oversight Board}}</ref>
=== Civic usage === [[File:A Prayer for Palestinian Children (53254105322).jpg|thumb|Pro-Palestinian rally in London, 9 October 2023]] [[File:Day of Resistance bIMG 7940 (53255628099).jpg|thumb|Pro-Palestinian rally in Columbus, Ohio, 12 October 2023, with an Arabic reference to the Intifada]] The phrase has been used widely in pro-Palestinian protest movements.<ref name="Rubin2010">{{cite book |last=Rich |first=David |chapter=The Very Model of a British Muslim Brotherhood |editor-first=Barry |editor-last=Rubin |title=The Muslim Brotherhood: The Organization and Policies of a Global Islamist Movement |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-230-10687-1 |page=124 |doi=10.1057/9780230106871_9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=so3GAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |quote=The MAB slogan 'Palestine must be free, from the river to the sea' is now ubiquitous in anti-Israel demonstrations in the United Kingdom. |via=Google Books}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marsi |first=Federica |title='From the river to the sea': What does the Palestinian slogan really mean? |date=2 November 2023 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/from-the-river-to-the-sea-what-does-the-palestinian-slogan-really-mean |website=Al Jazeera}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=23 May 2021 |title=From the river to the sea, Jews and Arabs must forge a shared future |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/23/river-to-sea-jews-and-arabs-must-forge-shared-future |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031161827/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/23/river-to-sea-jews-and-arabs-must-forge-shared-future |archive-date=31 October 2022 |access-date=22 September 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Yousef |last=Munayyer |title=What Does "From the River to the Sea" Really Mean? |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/what-does-from-the-river-to-the-sea-really-mean |access-date=31 October 2023 |website=Jewish Currents |date=11 June 2021 |language=en |quote=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.}}</ref> Interpretations differ amongst its supporters. In a survey conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development on 14 November, 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.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Danielle |last=Greyman-Kennard |date=17 November 2023 |title=Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank strongly support Hamas, October 7 attack |url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-773791 |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en-US |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Koningsveld |first=Akiva Van |date=17 November 2023 |title=Three in four Palestinians support Hamas's massacre |url=https://www.jns.org/three-in-four-palestinians-support-hamass-massacre/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 November 2023 |title=Survey finds majority in the West Bank support the Oct 7 massacre |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/palestinian-territories/1700158968-survey-finds-majority-in-the-west-bank-justify-the-oct-7-massacre |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=I24news |language=en}}</ref>
Civic figures, activists, and progressive publications have said that the phrase calls for a one-state solution: a single, secular state in all of Historic Palestine where people of all religions have equal citizenship.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bandler |first=Aaron |date=1 November 2021 |title=Dem NH Lawmaker Apologizes for 'From the River to the Sea' Tweet |work=The Jewish Journal |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/341941/dem-nh-lawmaker-apologizes-for-from-the-river-to-the-sea-tweet/ |url-status=live |access-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102173739/https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/341941/dem-nh-lawmaker-apologizes-for-from-the-river-to-the-sea-tweet/ |archive-date=2 November 2021}}</ref> This stands in contrast to the two-state solution, which envisions a Palestinian state existing alongside a Jewish state.<ref name="Nassar 2018 f411">{{cite news |first=Maha |last=Nasser |url=https://forward.com/opinion/415250/from-the-river-to-the-sea-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means/ |title='From The River To The Sea' Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means |work=The Forward |date=3 December 2018 |access-date=12 December 2023}}</ref><ref name="Zhang-2023">{{Cite news |last=Zhang |first=Jane |date=29 October 2023 |title=What does 'From the river to the sea' mean to Palestinians, Jews? |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/10/29/23926878/river-sea-palestine-free-israel-hamas-war-protest-gaza |access-date=31 October 2023 |work=The Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Sculos 2019">{{cite journal |last=Sculos |first=Bryant W. |date=2019 |title='A Free Palestine from the River to the Sea': The 9 Dirty Words You Can't Say (on T.V. or Anywhere Else) |journal=Class, Race and Corporate Power |volume=7 |issue=1 |article-number=6 |doi=10.25148/CRCP.7.1.008322 |issn=2330-6297 |s2cid=166905010 |doi-access=free |url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/record/2471}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=Alex |last=MacDonald |title='From the river to the sea': What does the pro-Palestine chant actually mean? |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-israel-from-river-to-sea-chant-mean-actually |date=23 October 2023 |access-date=31 October 2023 |work=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> 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 writer Yousef Munayyer describing the phrase as "a rejoinder to the fragmentation of Palestinian land and people by Israeli occupation and discrimination."<ref name="Gdnwhatmean" /> Others have said it stands for "the equal freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people."<ref name="Sculos 2019" /><ref name="dawn.com"/> Elliott Colla traces the first evidence of use of the phrase in Palestinian protest culture to the First Intifada (1987–1993), with documentation in graffiti from the period.<ref name="Colla-2023"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Abd al-Jawad |first=Saleh |author-link=Saleh Abd al-Jawad |title=Faṣā'il al-ḥaraka al-waṭaniyya al-Filasṭīniyya fi-l-arāḍī al-muḥtalla wa-shu'ārāt al-judrān |script-title=ar: فصائل الحركة الوطنية الفلسطينية في الأراضي المحتلة وشعارات الجدران |trans-title=Factions of the Palestinian National Movement in the Occupied Territories and the Wall Slogans |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/ar/node/35257 |access-date=21 November 2023 |website=Institute for Palestine Studies |language=ar}}</ref><ref name="Peteet 1996" />
On 8 November 2023, Amazon told ''Newsweek'' 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."<ref>{{cite web |first=Aleks |last=Phillips |url=https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-backlash-pro-palestinian-merchandise-river-sea-1841866 |title=Amazon Backlash Grows Over Selling Pro-Palestinian Merchandise—'Disgusting' |website=Newsweek |date=8 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109021355/https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-backlash-pro-palestinian-merchandise-river-sea-1841866 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Criticism== Some politicians and advocacy groups such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)<ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887" /> and American Jewish Committee<ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887"/> consider the phrase to be antisemitic, hate speech and incitement to genocide.<ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mitnick |first1=Joshua |title=A revised Hamas charter will moderate its stance toward Israel — slightly |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-hamas-charter-20170501-story.html |access-date=29 October 2023 |date=1 May 2017 |quote=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.' |url-access=limited}}</ref> They suggest that it denies the right of Jews for self-determination in their ancestral homeland,<ref name="Hernandez 2023 v887" /> or advocates for their removal or extermination.<ref name="Eichner-2023" /><ref name="Reuters-2023">{{Cite news |date=11 October 2023 |title='From the river to the sea' prompts Vienna to ban pro-Palestinian protest |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/from-river-sea-prompts-vienna-ban-pro-palestinian-protest-2023-10-11/ |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Angelos |first1=James |title=Israel-Hamas war cuts deep into Germany's soul |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-hamas-war-germany-germany-berlin/ |date=21 October 2023 |work=Politico Europe |quote="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."}}</ref> 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 the State of Israel and its Jewish citizens.<ref name="ij1" /><ref name="Patterson2010">{{cite book |first=David |last=Patterson |title=A Genealogy of Evil: Anti-Semitism from Nazism to Islamic Jihad |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=978-1-139-49243-0 |page=249 |chapter='Secular' Offshoots: The Baath Party and the PLO |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511762420.009 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMLmK-fmf8kC&pg=PA249 |quote=[...] except the boundary indicated in their slogan 'From the river to the sea,' which stipulated the obliteration of the Jewish state. |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Muslih|1990|pp=|ps=: "PLO and its leaders remained at bottom committed to Israel's destruction"}}</ref>
According to ADL regional director Jonah Steinberg, from the time of the 1948 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scales |first=Maggie |date=10 November 2023 |title='From the river to the sea': What does the common pro-Palestinian chant mean? |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/10/world/from-the-river-to-the-sea-meaning/ |url-access=limited}}</ref>
Steven Lubet wrote in an opinion piece on ''The 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."<ref name="Lubet 2024">{{Cite news |last=Lubet |first=Steven |date=16 January 2024 |title=Rabid hate speech against Jews isn't a matter of interpretation |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/4411126-rabid-hate-speech-against-jews-isnt-a-matter-of-interpretation/ |access-date=21 April 2024 |work=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref> Lubet also says that, according to DEI 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.<ref name="Lubet 2024" />
According to Susie Linfield in an interview in ''Salmagundi'' 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 a two-state solution, which led the Palestinian leadership to reject the partition plan in 1947, leading to the Nakba, a catastrophe for their people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Linfield |first=Susie |date=2024 |title=From The River To The Sea |url=https://salmagundi.skidmore.edu/articles/501-from-the-river-to-the-sea |access-date=24 April 2024 |website=Salmagundi Magazine |series=222-223 |language=en}}</ref>
On 9 November 2023, Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University at the time, condemned the phrase.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/us/harvard-columbia-antisemitism.html |title=Harvard, Columbia and Penn Pledge to Fight Antisemitism on Campus |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=11 November 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=1553-8095 |url-access=limited}}</ref> On 17 April 2024, Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University at the time, said that she herself hears the phrase as antisemitic, but some people do not.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 April 2024 |title=Columbia's president rebuts claims she has allowed the university to become a hotbed of antisemitism |url=https://apnews.com/article/columbia-president-congress-israel-hamas-antisemitism-3255357b4443c1fb4bae8b8ea5774ee5 |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
Historian Richard Wolin said that the phrase "implicitly underwrites the elimination of 9 million Israelis by whatever means necessary..."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wolin |first=Richard |date=2024 |title=From the 'Socialism of Fools' to the 'Jihadism of Fools': The Lessons of October 7 |journal=Antisemitism Studies |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=345–351 |doi=10.2979/ast.00030 |issn=2474-1817}}</ref>
=== Response to criticism === Researcher and former negotiator in Israeli–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."<ref name="Demirjian Stack 2023 m226" />
Palestinian American writers such as Yousef Munayyer and historian Maha Nassar have written that accusations that the phrase is a call to genocide, rely on racist and Islamophobic assumptions about Palestinian intent.<ref name="Colla-2023"/> Anthropologist Nadia 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 such language is used by Israelis.<ref name="Abu El-Haj 2023" />
In describing the criticism of the phrase, scholar of politics in the Arab world Elliott Colla writes:<blockquote>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 as ''ipso facto'' instances of anti-Jewish hate speech ... the slogan "from the river to the sea" figures prominently in their accusations of antisemitic doublespeak.<ref name="Colla-2023" /></blockquote>
In 2021, over 200 scholars in various fields signed the ''Jerusalem 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, especially regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict. According to the authors, "''between the river and the sea''" is not antisemitic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jerusalem Declaration On Antisemitism |url=https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/ |access-date=30 March 2021 |website=JerusalemDeclaration.org}}</ref>
Scholars Amos 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.<ref name = "GoldConf">{{Cite web |url=https://revdem.ceu.edu/2024/03/27/from-the-river-to-the-sea-one-slogan-many-meanings/ |title='From the river to the sea': One slogan, many meanings | Review of Democracy |date=27 March 2024 |website=revdem.ceu.edu}}</ref>
== Legal status == As of 2026, the phrase "From the river to the sea" is generally legal in most of the world though its use has become legally constricted in some places, including Bavaria, Germany and Queensland, Australia. Supporters of the restrictions argue that the intent is antisemitic or is calling for a genocide of Jewish people, while opponents reject this interpretation and say that it is used to advocate for Palestinians to have the "freedom to establish their own state" and to demand the end of Israeli occupation. Legal authorities and courts have taken differing approaches on whether the phrase is to be criminalised or not.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kear |first=Martin |date=2026-02-23 |title=Why are the phrases ‘globalise the intifada’ and ‘from the river to the sea’ so contested? |url=https://theconversation.com/why-are-the-phrases-globalise-the-intifada-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-so-contested-275668 |access-date=2026-04-22 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Messenger |first=Andrew |date=2026-03-12 |title=Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/12/queensland-from-the-river-to-the-sea-pro-palestine-protest-slogan-laws-likened-to-bjelke-petersen-era-ntwnfb |access-date=2026-04-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
===Europe=== ====United Kingdom==== Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the British Home Secretary at the time, Suella Braverman, proposed prosecuting those using the phrase in certain contexts.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Syal |first1=Rajeev |last2=Allegretti |first2=Aubrey |title=Waving Palestinian flag may be a criminal offence, Braverman tells police |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/10/people-supporting-hamas-in-uk-will-be-held-to-account-says-rishi-sunak |access-date=10 October 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=10 October 2023 |quote=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 aggravated section 5 public order offence.}}</ref> ====Netherlands==== A majority of the Dutch parliament declared the phrase to be a call for violence. The judiciary, 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 the Dutch Supreme Court.<ref name="nos.nl-2023" /><ref name="wpprotectedspeech" /><ref name="Brown 2023 s833">{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Rivkah |title=Dutch Court Rules 'From the River to the Sea' Protected Speech and Not Antisemitic |website=Novara Media |date=18 October 2023 |url=https://novaramedia.com/2023/10/18/dutch-court-rules-from-the-river-to-the-sea-protected-speech-and-not-antisemitic/ |access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Single MP majority asks Cabinet to criminalize "From the River to the Sea" statement |url=https://nltimes.nl/2024/05/21/single-mp-majority-asks-cabinet-criminalize-river-sea-statement |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=NL Times |date=21 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> ====Austria==== In 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.<ref name="Reuters-2023" /><ref>{{cite news |date=11 October 2023 |title='From the river to the sea' prompts Vienna to ban pro-Palestinian protest |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/from-river-sea-prompts-vienna-ban-pro-palestinian-protest-2023-10-11/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104012004/https://www.reuters.com/world/from-river-sea-prompts-vienna-ban-pro-palestinian-protest-2023-10-11/ |archive-date=4 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |work=Reuters}}</ref> Politicians in Austria have also considered declaring use of the phrase to be a criminal offense, with Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer saying that the phrase would be interpreted as a call for murder.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Glenn |first=Matis |date=25 October 2023 |title=Austrian Chancellor Visits Israel, Says 'From the River...' Will Be Considered Call to Murder |website=Hamodia |url=https://hamodia.com/2023/10/25/austrian-chancellor-visits-israel-says-from-the-river-will-be-considered-call-to-murder/ |access-date=28 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030152718/https://hamodia.com/2023/10/25/austrian-chancellor-visits-israel-says-from-the-river-will-be-considered-call-to-murder/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Astha |last=Rajvanshi |date=20 October 2023 |title=In Europe, Free Speech Is Under Threat For Palestine Supporters |url=https://time.com/6326360/europe-palestine-protests-free-speech/ |access-date=28 October 2023 |magazine=Time |archive-date=21 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021031950/https://time.com/6326360/europe-palestine-protests-free-speech/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> ====Estonia==== In November 2023, in Tallinn (Estonia), the police opened criminal proceedings against five rally participants who used "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wiel |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Volmer |first2=Grete |date=9 November 2023 |title= |script-title=ru:Полиция объяснила случившееся на митинге в поддержку Палестины: мы неоднократно говорили о том, чего делать нельзя |trans-title=Police explain what happened at a rally in support of Palestine: We have repeatedly spoken about what should not be done |url=https://rus.delfi.ee/statja/120246175/policiya-obyasnila-sluchivsheesya-na-mitinge-v-podderzhku-palestiny-my-neodnokratno-govorili-o-tom-chego-delat-nelzya |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114040133/https://rus.delfi.ee/statja/120246175/policiya-obyasnila-sluchivsheesya-na-mitinge-v-podderzhku-palestiny-my-neodnokratno-govorili-o-tom-chego-delat-nelzya |archive-date=14 November 2023 |access-date=14 November 2023 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://estonianworld.com/security/anti-jewish-leaflets-distributed-in-tallinn-people-arrested-for-chanting-hamas-slogans-at-protest/ |title=Anti-Jewish leaflets distributed in Tallinn, people arrested for chanting Hamas slogans at protest |last=Tambur |first=Silver |date=9 November 2023 |website=Estonian World |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref> ====Germany==== The phrase was banned in Bavaria (Germany) in November 2023, 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".<ref>{{Cite web |title= |script-title=ru:В Баварии запретили пропалестинский лозунг "От реки до моря" |trans-title=Bavaria Bans Pro-Palestinian Slogan 'From River to Sea' |url=https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/19261133 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112075842/https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/19261133 |archive-date=12 November 2023 |access-date=14 November 2023 |language=ru}}</ref> Despite a report issued in January 2024 by CNN, the phrase was not considered illegal all over Germany. On 22 March 2024 the Administrative Court of Hesse ruled against an interdiction by the Frankfurt municipality and allowed the phrase in the course of a demonstration the same day.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tanno |first=Sophie |date=28 January 2024 |title=Crackdown on an already banned Hamas raises free speech fears in Germany |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/28/europe/europe-germany-hamas-crackdown-free-speech-intl/index.html |access-date= |work=CNN |publisher= |quote=}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=24 March 2024 |title=Stadt muss Parole "From the river to the sea" erlauben |trans-title=City must allow slogan "From the river to the sea" |url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/Politik__Inland_/article250709420/Stadt-muss-Parole-From-the-river-to-the-sea-erlauben.html |access-date=15 May 2024 |work=Die Welt |language=de}}</ref>
In November 2025, the Higher Administrative Court of Münster ruled that the police cannot prohibit protesters in expressing criticism of the state of Israel or questioning its "right to exist" during demonstrations. It clarified that these actions, as well as "advocating for peaceful changes" to the political situation, falls within protected free speech.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-20 |title=German Court Rules Police Cannot Ban General Criticism of Israel at Pro-Palestine Protests – European Palestinian Council for Political Relations |url=https://www.eupac.org/german-court-rules-police-cannot-ban-general-criticism-of-israel-at-pro-palestine-protests/ |access-date=2026-04-22 |language=en-AU}}</ref> ====Czech Republic==== In November 2023, the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic expressed the opinion that the use of the phrase may be considered criminal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 November 2023 |title=Czechia mulls penalising 'From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free' slogan |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/czechia-mulls-penalising-from-the-river-to-the-sea-palestine-will-be-free-slogan/ |access-date=16 July 2025}}</ref> This view was, however, rejected after multiple appeals in August 2024 by the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic, which explained that any use of the phrase must be evaluated in context, is not criminal in itself, and that its use on an invitation cannot be a reason to ban an announced public gathering.<ref>{{cite web |author=Eva Paseková |date=29 August 2024 |title=NSS k heslu o svobodné Palestině: Shromažďovací právo nelze omezovat preventivně |url=https://www.ceska-justice.cz/2024/08/nss-k-heslu-o-svobodne-palestine-shromazdovaci-pravo-nelze-omezovat-preventivne/ |trans-title=NSS to the slogan about free Palestine: The right of assembly cannot be restricted preventively |website=Ceska Justice |language=cs |access-date=1 January 2026}}</ref>
====France==== In April 2026, French MP Caroline Yadan introduced the Yadan bill, which would criminalize the phrase in France.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heller |first=Mathilda |date=2026-02-17 |title='From the river to the sea' could be punishable in France |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-886990 |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stetler |first=Harrison |date=2026-04-14 |title=Criminalizing “From the River to the Sea” |url=https://jacobin.com/2026/04/yadan-law-france-antisemitism-israel |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=Jacobin |language=en-US}}</ref>
===North America=== ====Canada==== In November 2023, it was reported that the case of a man charged by the police in Calgary, Canada for using the phrase, had been stayed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/from-the-river-to-the-sea-phrase |title=Charge stayed against Calgary pro-Palestinian protester who chanted 'from the river to the sea' |website=National Post |date=17 November 2023 |access-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/WIPfG |archive-date=19 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> ====United States==== In April 2024, the U.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 surrounding Rashida Tlaib's video post featuring the phrase. Tlaib, who voted against the resolution, defended the phrase as aspirational for freedom. While some Democrats viewed the resolution as divisive, many supported it due to concerns about antisemitism.<ref name="Schnell 2024">{{Cite news |first1=Mychael |last1=Schnell |first2=Laura |last2=Kelly |date=16 April 2024 |title=House approves resolution condemning Palestinian rallying cry as antisemitic |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4598347-house-approves-resolution-condemning-palestinian-rallying-cry-as-antisemitic/ |access-date=17 April 2024 |work=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref>
US courts have generally treated the phrase as protected speech under the First Amendment when used within a political protest context. Courts have rejected the idea that critics can assign it a single fixed meaning and have emphasized its interpretation is dependent on context.<ref name=":2" />
===Oceania=== ====Australia==== In March 2026, Queensland, Australia passed a law banning people from written or spoken use of the phrase "in a way that makes a member of the public feel menaced, harassed or offended", with penalties of up to two years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Sarah |date=5 March 2026 |title='From the river to the sea' and 'globalise the intifada' banned in Queensland |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-05/qld-hate-speech-laws-passed-parliament/106420306 |access-date=10 March 2026 |publisher=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> On 11 March 2026, two activists, were arrested for using the phrase "from the river to the sea" at a rally outside Queensland parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-03-12 |title=First people arrested under new Queensland laws banning 'from the river to the sea' chant |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/queensland-government-first-arrests-banned-pro-palestine-phrase/sfz36li0w |access-date=2026-03-31 |website=SBS News |language=en}}</ref> On 28 March, Queensland Police stated that they were investigating artist James Hillier for a graffiti of singer John Farnham, and line from his 1988 song "Two Strong Hearts" which features the words "river to the sea", and a slice of watermelon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dennien |first=Matt |date=2026-03-28 |title='From the river to the sea', and into police sights, for Brisbane artists |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland/from-the-river-to-the-sea-and-into-police-sights-for-brisbane-artists-20260328-p5zjhp.html |access-date=2026-03-31 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == *Borders of Israel *A mari usque ad mare *Anti-Zionism *Israeli–Palestinian conflict *Greater Israel *Greater Palestine *Am Yisrael Chai *"May Your Village Burn" *A land without a people for a people without a land *There was no such thing as Palestinians *From Dan to Beersheba
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons}} * [https://unpacked.education/video/from-the-river-to-the-sea/ From the River to the Sea Explained], Unpacked
Category:1960s quotations Category:Definition of antisemitism controversy Category:Palestinian nationalism Category:Political catchphrases Category:Anti-Zionism Category:Phrases related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Category:Jordan River Category:Decolonization Category:One-state solution Category:Likud