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Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Yes, "From the River to the Sea" Is Antisemitic. Here's Why.
My new essay at The Hill explains why the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic. I am not arguing to ban it, but it should be recognized for what it is:
Rabid hate speech against Jews isn’t a matter of interpretation
BY STEVEN LUBET, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 01/16/24
Consider the frequently heard chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
As Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, recently warned Israel’s Jews, “Here, you don’t have a future, and, from the river to the sea, the land of Palestine is for the Palestinians and for the Palestinian people only.”
Even assuming good faith when Tlaib, and others, assert that “from the river to the sea” means something benign and democratic, why would they insist on repeating a phrase that is also associated with terrorism and perceived as murderous by so many who hear it?
It cannot be that a speaker’s intent — rather than the impact on listeners — should determine the acceptability of a phrase or symbol. On that theory, it is perfectly fine for right-wing demonstrators to wave the Confederate battle flag, which they often claim is an expression of southern heritage unrelated to slavery or white supremacy.
If protesters truly reject Hamas’s eliminationist objective, and instead are seeking only, as Tlaib put it, “freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence,” they could make a simple change in their slogan that would make it less menacing and more humane:
“From the river to the sea, Palestinians will be free.”
It would still rhyme while allowing for Israel’s survival. But of course, that is not what they are after.
You can read the entire essay at The Hill.
Posted by Steve Lubet on January 16, 2024 at 01:11 PM | Permalink
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