A UK minister said that pro-Palestine activists who use the slogan “From the river to the sea” should be referred to police, saying that the chant is an example of antisemitism, The New Arab reported on Saturday.
The slogan has long been used to refer to the creation of a Palestinian state within the boundaries of historic Palestine, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
1/2 Internationally respected human rights defenders judge Israel’s govt guilty of Apartheid “from the River to the Sea” https://t.co/kvIZP8q0B2 . Does @nadhimzahawi really think saying that in UK that makes you a terrorist supporter & liable to arrest?
https://t.co/XJlAQfwzKU— Richard Burden (@RichardBurden27) January 28, 2022
“Any form of antisemitism or prejudice promoting the murder of Jewish people is in my book anti-Semitic and therefore you should act on that,” Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi said in an online conference on antisemitism hosted earlier this week by his department.
While hardline Zionists and their supporters allege that the slogan implies the removal of Jews from the area to pave the way for a Palestinian state, pro-Palestine activists dismiss this charge, saying it refers only to the creation of a state and the end of Israel’s illegal occupation.
Far-right Zionists, meanwhile, have also used the slogan to call for the creation of a Jewish state, which would further displace Palestinians from their homes.
The UK's education secretary said that Protesters chanting the pro-Palestinian slogan "From the river to sea, Palestine will be free" should be referred to the police, adding "it was essential that university campuses cracked down on pro-Palestinian activists". pic.twitter.com/6qi1kobw8i
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) January 27, 2022
In 2015, Israel’s former Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely urged Jewish lawmakers to push Israel’s Biblical claim over the land, which now makes up Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Hotovely, who now serves as Israel’s ambassador to the UK, was confronted late last year by student protesters who chanted pro-Palestine slogans at the former minister as she visited the London School of Economics (LSE).
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
