How interpretations of the phrase 'from the river to the sea' made it so divisive [View all]

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https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211671117/how-interpretations-of-the-phrase-from-the-river-to-the-sea-made-it-so-divisive

How interpretations of the phrase 'from the river to the sea' made it so divisive

November 9, 2023 5:01 AM ET
By Joe Hernandez

In the days since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and Israel's military response, some Palestinian rights advocates have returned to a common refrain: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

It's a geographical nod to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and the protracted tensions between Palestinians and Israeli Jews who live there.

But what does it actually mean? To some, it's a rallying cry for the liberation of Palestinian people across the region, from Gaza to the West Bank and within Israel. To others, it is a violent call to erase Israel from existence invoked by militant groups such as Hamas.

The phrase has become especially politically charged in the days since the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 people in Israel. Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress have condemned the slogan, with one congressman referring to it as a "thinly veiled call for the genocide of millions of Jews in Israel."

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