The slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has come up in our educational spaces, and the AFT Guild’s Social Justice Committee would like to take this opportunity to bring clarity around its usage in various contexts. It is our hope that this explanation will prevent censorship and infringement on the rights of students, faculty, and staff to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
First and foremost, historical context is important. The origins of the slogan “from the river to the sea” have been used by both Palestinian and Israeli groups. The slogan traces back to the 1960s when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) used it to express a desire for a single, secular democratic state for all citizens including Muslims, Christians, and Jews, in the territory of historic Palestine. Later, the phrase appeared in the 1977 election manifesto of Israel’s right-wing Likud party, which stated, “between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.” In 2012, Hamas incorporated the phrase into its political messaging when one of its leaders, Khaled Mashal, declared, “Palestine is ours, from the river to the sea.” Due to the 2012 usage of the phrase by Hamas, some figures in society have come to misidentify the slogan as hate speech, label its usage as antisemitic, or misinterpret the phrase as a call for genocide.
The wider historical context reveals that the phrase “from the river to the sea” has been used by Palestinian activists since the 1960s, though the exact origins of the phrase are somewhat unclear. In the context of Palestinian activism, it is used as a call for liberation from 75 years of military occupation by Israel. By interpreting the phrase as hate speech, antisemitism, or a call for genocide, we disregard the way the slogan has been used in movements for Palestinian liberation. In doing so, we misconstrue the historical trajectory of the phrase and fail to recognize the way it has been leveraged by Palestinian activists as a rallying cry for peace, freedom from oppression, and the right to self-determination. It is clear from the literature on this topic that not all Jewish people interpret the phrase as hate speech, label its usage as antisemitic, or misidentify the phrase as a call for genocide. If we ignore the liberatory call for justice inherent in the phrase, this can have the devastating impact of curbing free speech and silencing pro-Palestinian activists.
Today, for some pro-Palestinian activists, including many of our own District students, staff, and faculty, the phrase represents a call for peace, equality, and a single, inclusive state where all people have equal rights. They see it as a reaction against Israeli military rule, occupation, and discrimination. Such activists have used this slogan in peaceful demonstrations and rallies. They have also incorporated it in creative art works and signage displayed in windows to raise awareness and consciousness of the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza since the beginning of the war on Gaza in 2023 to current present time of this statement. This slogan is also considered to be protected political speech under the First Amendment. Moreover, the ACLU has similarly explained that use of “the river to the sea” is protected speech. Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at ACLU, told ABC News “There is no ‘controversial speech’ exception to the First Amendment. The First Amendment and the principles of academic freedom require higher education institutions to safeguard all protected speech — even when that speech is contentious or offensive.” She further explains, in fact, the First Amendment exists to protect exactly this kind of political expression. Therefore, phrases like ‘from the river to the sea,’ ‘no ceasefire,’ ‘make America great again,’ and ‘no justice, no peace’ are protected.”
We know that in certain hypothetical circumstances, none that have occurred on our campuses as we know, this slogan can be considered harassment. Harassment is a pattern of unwanted behavior targeted at specific individuals, which may or may not include speech. Under the Supreme Court’s standard for discriminatory harassment in the educational context, the conduct must be targeted, unwelcome, and “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit.” The Department of Education has emphasized that harassment “must include something beyond the mere expression of views, words, symbols or thoughts that some person finds offensive.”
We encourage everyone to use civility, understanding, and compassion when engaging in this topic. We also hope that you will take time to review some of our resources provided[1] below to further understand this modern-day form of colonization in the Middle East funded by the American government.
If you feel like District administrators have censored you or infringed on your first amendment rights to free speech and academic freedom, please contact one of your AFT Guild site representatives.
For additional information on the origins and usage of this phrase, as well as information on other current topics of interest, please visit our AFT Guild social justice resources hub (password protected, reach out to your AFT rep for access)
