The year is 1948 and Israel has just been declared a new state by the United Nations, but where does this leave Palestine? Palestine at the time was home to over 1.4 million Palestinians. In 1948, the Nakba (catastrophe in English), expelled over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Despite the UN making a solution of giving 45% of the land to Arabs and 55% to Israelis, this was never followed. Palestine became the territories that we know it as today; the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Since October 7, 2023, uproar and protests have come from all sides of the conflict with numerous standpoints, but there is one phrase that has become the “slogan” for Palestine, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Many may argue this phrase is antisemitic, others may argue it’s a call to end settler colonization.
The phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is a call to end settler colonization; not just in Palestine, but globally.
The river that is mentioned is the Jordan River that borders Palestine, the sea is the Mediterranean which borders the levant region. Using these geographical marks that are essential to Palestine but also map out the country is what makes this phrase so powerful. Palestine relies on specific industries like fishing and olives. These two industries have been in Palestine’s blood for centuries. However, when the colonization began by Western settlers, Palestine slowly started losing all they’ve known. Israeli settlers would even go as far as to burn olive trees. The Mediterranean region of the world produces 95% of the world’s olives, for Palestine itself, over 100,000 homes rely on the olive industry as their main source of income.
Since just October 7, 2023, over 200,000 Palestinians have been martyred along with over 1,500 Israelis. Israel hasn’t just targeted Palestine, Israel has moved in neighboring Lebanon and Syria and martyred over 5,000 people combined. The Nakba of 1948 isn’t an isolated event. Israel continues to force Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and Yemenis out of their homes. Over one million Arabs combined have been forced to flee their home countries and start from scratch in a new country. In their resettled states. They may face discrimination along with other hardships like citizenship and schooling for the children. Leaving a homeland is never easy, especially without choice.
Those who are typically Islamophobic, view Arabs in a negative light, support Israel unconditionally, or are simply uneducated may counter by describing the phrase as “antisemitic.” However, this isn’t true. Antisemitism is the hostility or prejudice towards Jews solely for being Jewish. Anti-Zionism is the political ideology that desires a homeland for Jews, however in a way that is beneficial and safe for all, not by any means necessary like Zionism. The phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” strictly describes freedom for the resilient Palestinians from Israeli occupation. The phrase doesn’t represent any sort of hostility for Jews, nor begging for their displacement. It is simply advocating for the basic human rights of Palestinians.
By reading and watching the news, watching vlogs from those living in Palestine, listening and reading accounts of Palestinians that are experiencing the occupation currently, and staying as properly informed as possible helps towards a better future for not just Palestine, but all countries involved in this, and other conflicts, Unfortunately, the genocide towards Arabs/Palestinians will never cease from Israel, nor will the hostility between the two governments. Although the civilians on both sides of the wall plead at their governments for peace in forms of protests, Israel refuses deals and Hamas still has Israeli captives. Without the understanding of peace between the two governments, peace will never be achieved. The soil of Palestine is forever stained with centuries of blood from settler colonization dominated by the encouragement and negligence of Western countries.
