Just The Story: “From the River to the Sea”
Just The Story: “From the River to the Sea”
Just the story, no (redacted) man
Facebook and Instagram’s oversight board is currently reviewing whether the phrase “from the river to the sea” violates the platforms’ rules on hate speech.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Is it a “rallying cry for terrorists” or a “call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli military rule over millions of Palestianians” and an end to the murder of innocent people? Over 36,000 people have been murdered since October 2023, at least 34,800 Palestinians and at least 1,400 Israelis, with so many more having been injured.
It’s these deaths that people are rallying against. It seemed odd to me at first to hear pro-Palestinian protestors described as antisemitic by right-wing Americans. How is it that one can simultaneously think people who are politically left are too “woke” and care too much about racism and injustice, yet also think that they would be calling for the genocide of Jewish people? I heard from someone who thought that the current protests at colleges in America were aimed at protesting all Jewish people and that the goal was for the Jewish people in Israel to be killed. It wasn’t someone who I thought would fall for that. How did a chant and protests calling for peace, end up being shown to conservative Americans as antisemitic?
It’s difficult for them to see the chant as a rallying cry for freedom when they don’t see the oppresion. “Palestine will be free”, but free from what? This is going to be the shortest history of this ever, but if you would like a longer one, please see my link at the bottom. Before and during the 1948 war in the region, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes or fled in fear of being killed by Israel. In 1967 Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem. In 2005 Israel withdrew form Gaza. In 2007 Hamas claimed Gaza, but the Palestinians in the region were not free.
They want freedom.
Freedom from, the actions described in these quotes by Israeli leaders. “Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.” “Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieve the goal.”“We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.”
The phrase "from the River to the Sea" refers to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, of which Palestinians referred to as Palestine before being violently forced from the area. Israeli leaders have said "between the Sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty.” Hamas has said, “Palestine is ours from the river to the sea.” “From the river to the sea” could be a call for violence, because there has been such a history of violence in the area, but it’s also, mainly, been used by citizens to promote peace and a sense of belonging.
The majority of the people using it in protest aren’t talking about the men in power who use it to invoke violence. It’s about all the innocent people, Israelis and Palestinians, who want freedom to live without fearing for their lives. It would be wrong to say violence is how that phrase should always be read, given that it, and its Arabic counterpart, have been used to promote peace. We need to look at the context of who is saying it.
If someone can only see it as a “rallying cry for terrorists”, then it seems to me the issue is within them seeing all Palestinians as terrorists because racist indoctrination has taught them that all Muslim and/or Arab people are terrorists. Or, because perhaps they would wipe out the side they don’t agree with and cannot fathom anyone else not wanting to do so.
Antisemitism is a serious concern, and many Jewish Americans are facing it today. When right-wing Americans describe the desire for peace as antisemitism, it confuses and diminishes the actual struggle against hate that Jewish people face today.
Why is right-wing America more upset about the people chanting a phrase intended to support the freedom of people, than they are of 36,000 people being murdered?
Why are they upset about people wanting freedom?
I thought in America we loved freedom.
Oh but not for them?
Originally I wrote this slightly reworded as an explanation to a family member who is unfortunately the one mentioned above, who thought the college protests were calls for violence against Jewish people. I intend to turn it into a piece with a (redacted) man, and when I do I’ll be posting it, so stay tuned.
Sources:
From the River to the Sea Rebecca Routh Gold
The IHRA Definition of Antisemitism: DefiningAntisemitism by Erasing Palestinians Rebecca Routh Gold
From the River to the Sea: Palestine Will Be Free University of Toronto
The U.S. Should Think Twice About Israel’s Plans for Gaza Rashid Khalidi
As always, I would appreciate you heart reacting this post for me. More engagement means more people might see my work. ♥️
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Oh and that family member? This did get through to them. The version I sent them didn’t mention right-wing or left-wing and I often find if I want to get through to them, removing any mention of party politics helps.
AIPAC owns the US & most politicians. Look up “AIPAC Tracker” to see how much money various Republican and Democratic politicians have been paid. We basically have a foreign entity running our government.