Case Description
Due to a technical glitch, our public comments portal for cases related to the "From the River to the Sea" phrase closed earlier than planned. To ensure everyone has a chance to share their input, we've reopened it for 24 hours. The portal will now close at 12pm BST on May 23rd.
These three cases concern content decisions made by Meta, all on Facebook, which the Oversight Board intends to address together.
The three posts were shared by different users in November 2023, following the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 and the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Each post contains the phrase “From the river to the sea.” All three were reported by users for violating Meta’s Community Standards. The company decided to leave all three posts on Facebook. For each case, the Board will decide whether the content should be removed under Meta’s policies and according to its human rights responsibilities. Numbers of views and reports are correct as of the end of February 2024.
The first case concerns a comment from a Facebook user on another user’s video. The video has a caption encouraging others to “speak up” with numerous hashtags including “#ceasefire” and “#freepalestine.” The comment on the post contains the phrase “FromTheRiverToTheSea” in hashtag form, as well as several additional hashtags including “#DefundIsrael.” The comment had about 3,000 views and was reported seven times by four users. The reports were closed after Meta’s automated systems did not send them for human review within 48 hours.
In the second case, a Facebook user posted what appears to be a generated image of fruit floating on the sea that form the words from the phrase, along with “Palestine will be free.” The post had about 8 million views and was reported 951 times by 937 users. The first report on the post was closed, again because Meta’s automated systems did not send it for human review within 48 hours. Subsequent reports by users were reviewed and assessed as non-violating by human moderators.
In the third case, a Facebook page reshared a post from the page of a community organization in Canada in which a statement from the “founding members” of the organization declared support for “the Palestinian people,” condemning their “senseless slaughter” by the “Zionist State of Israel” and “Zionist Israeli occupiers.” The post ends with the phrase “From The River To The Sea.” This post had less than 1,000 views and was reported by one user. The report was automatically closed.
The Facebook users who reported the content, and subsequently appealed Meta’s decisions to leave up the content to the Board, claimed the phrase was breaking Meta’s rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals. The user who reported the content in the first case stated that the phrase violates Meta’s policies prohibiting content that promotes violence or supports terrorism. The users who reported the content in the second and third cases stated that the phrase constitutes hate speech, is antisemitic and is a call to abolish the state of Israel.
After the Board selected these cases for review, Meta confirmed its original decisions were correct. Meta informed the Board that it analyzed the content under three policies – Violence and Incitement, Hate Speech and Dangerous Organizations and Individuals – and found the posts did not violate any of these policies. Meta explained the company is aware that “From the river to the sea” has a long history and that it had reviewed use of the phrase on its platform after October 7, 2023. After that review, Meta determined that, without additional context, it cannot conclude that “From the river to the sea” constitutes a call to violence or a call for exclusion of any particular group, nor that it is linked exclusively to support for Hamas.
The Board selected these cases to consider how Meta should moderate the use of the phrase given the resurgence in its use after October 7, 2023, and controversies around the phrase’s meaning. On the one hand, the phrase has been used to advocate for the dignity and human rights of Palestinians. On the other hand, it could have antisemitic implications, as claimed by the users who submitted the cases to the Board. This case falls within the Board’s strategic priority of Crisis and Conflict Situations.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- The origin and current uses of the phrase: “From the river to the sea.”
- Research into online trends in content using the phrase.
- Research into any associated online and offline harms from the use of the phrase.
- Meta’s human rights responsibilities in relation to content using the phrase including freedom of expression, freedom of association, and equality and non-discrimination.
- State and institutional (e.g., university) responses to the use of the phrase (e.g., during protests) and the human rights impacts of those responses.
As part of its decisions, the Board can issue policy recommendations to Meta. While recommendations are not binding, Meta must respond to them within 60 days. As such, the Board welcomes public comments proposing recommendations that are relevant to these cases.
Comments
As a Jew living in Israel, the phrase has clear and unambiguous meaning. It advocates for the establishment of a single contiguous state from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea. A state"free" of Jews (as any Palestinian controlled territories currently are), evocative of the "Jew free" zones under Nazi Germany's rule. It is also frequently chanted together with the phrase it is derived from in Arabic - "From the water (river) to the water (sea) Palestine is Arab."
Such chants about the historical and eternal Jewish homeland - as documented extensively by most major world religions and supported by an enormous amount of archeological evidence - are deeply offensive, personally threatening, and a frightening reminder of the perilous position Jews have been in for millennia. One in which our history is denied, all evils are attributed to us, and out expulsion and extermination is celebrated.
I am hopeful that the world will yet learn again to see us as human.
Note: I have chosen to explicitly reference my Jewishness due to the inherent relation it has to the topic at hand. Furthermore, my name is quite clearly Jewish and I would expect a thinking reader to be able to realize that regardless.
Briefly, in the world detached from the high polarization and fast changing landscape of social media, most everyone we interact with would be deeply frightened by hearing that phrase uttered in their presence, much less celebrated. In conversations with locals I have observed feelings of alienation and an deep, abiding fear caused by hateful discourse against the Jewish community that has been left unchecked by the same forces who we allied with to ensure other groups were protected. The above applies to all ages, genders, races, and political beliefs of our Jewish constituency.
If I am to give myself license to take a harder line for a moment: to feign that nuance and discourse is warranted and fair, but only when applied to political catchphrases that are about our communities and values is flagrantly bigoted. There is no issue, however distasteful, that cannot be philosophized into faux nuance.
Thank you for seeking our feedback.
From the River to the Sea long been a slogan repeated in Arabic only by Arab leaders to their audiences. For the West, they spoke in english of a two state solution, of peace process and of Palestinian victimhood.
This slogan has exploded in English and on western campuses and media after October 7th to demand a Palestinian State that would go from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, therefore wiping out the State of Israel ( which has been the open wish of Arab leaders since 1948) .
If the attack, slander and muder of a Jew is antisemitic, if the killing and burning of 6 million Jews in the Nazi camps is antisemitic, then of course the obliteration of the largest Jewish community in the world is antisemitic!!! It is beyond antisemitic, it is genocidal.
I am flabbergasted that this should raise even the slightest doubt, excepted may be by cynics, haters and ignorants..
From the river to the sea was originally used by many Arab nations to describe their expressed desire to wipe out the state of Israel when Israel declared independence in 1948. This phrase has continued to be used since then by those who oppose the existence of the state of Israel to this day. As such, it continues to retain genocidal overtones, thereby promoting antisemitism or hate of Jewish people (as explicitly explained by Hamas spokesman). Some claim that it simply refers to the relocation of all Jewish people living in Israel, and that the statement is not antisemitic but anti Zionist. In truth however, an aspiration to return and build an independent country in the land of Israel has been central to the Jewish people since the time of the Bible. In fact, for thousands of years the Jewish people have prayed three times a day for the realization of this dream. We call this Zionism. Saying that you have nothing against the Jewish people, only Zionism, is like saying you have nothing against Muslims, only Muslims who want to visit Mecca. Just as we should rightly consider such a statement to be anti-Muslim, we should similarly consider any statement attempting to deny the Jewish people of their most fundamental values to be anti-Semitic.
"From the river to the sea" is nothing short of a wish, a threat, a longing, for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their Indigenous land. The Jordan "River", and the Mediterranean "Sea", are the two borders of the land of Israel. They want the entire land, from border to border, free of any Jewish person or presence.
It is not a call for a two-state solution, or for different populations to live peacefully on this land. It is a wish for the land to be rid of any Jewish presence at any cost, as we have just seen on October 7th. Make no qualms about it, this is a call for ethnic-cleansing and genocide.
From the River to the Sea is a call to violence. Intifada is violent and bloody revolution. I do not feel safe online when these phrases are communicated. They are hate speech. As a teacher of young people, I see how these phrases are influencing them. Please ensure these words violate your policies and can be flagged as such. Thank you for your time.
This phrase calls for all Jews to be removed from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean sea. In the present political climate and in the post 7.10 world it can be considered provocatively antisemitic.
The US Congress has made it clear that this is hate speech. If you look at “from what river to what sea” this is a message to eradicate Israel and half of the world’s Jews. This is clearly hate speech. In Arabic, it is even clearer, “from the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab.” This languid clearly antisemitic.
It’s not a hate nor genocide to say from the river to the see. It’s even originally called by Isreal in the past. This double standard must be stopped
Members of Oversight Board,
The saying From the River to the Sea comes with a terrifying hatred. I was recently in NY on business and almost walked into a march that was forming.
A few of the protestors, one carrying From the River to the Sea, blocked my path, wanting me to join their march. I was frightened, they were screaming in my face From the River to the Sea. They were looking to find some Jews and were screaming about what they would do to a Jewish person if they found one. The hostility, potential for violence and extreme combativeness were overwhelming.
I was lucky, the protestors moved on to join the march.
The impression they left will be with me forever. The hate in their eyes, the fury in their voices. From the River to the Sea is an evil saying, of that, there's no doubt.
Please ban this chant from Meta. Don't spread hate. We must stop spreading hate before it is too late.
Sincerely,
C. Roberts
“From the river to the sea” is a recognition that apartheid began in 1948 when Israel was created through the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. It is no call for genocide.
It is a call for peace and equality.
It is indeed a call for the need for equality for all inhabitants of historic Palestine, be it Muslims, Christians or Jews.
To call for the destruction of Israel as an apartheid state is not a call for the destruction of Jews living there, any more than the call for the destruction of apartheid in South Africa was a call for the destruction of white people.
"These words should not be construed in any other way than they were intended, namely as a heartfelt plea for an end to killings in Israel, Gaza, and the occupied West Bank, and for all peoples in the region to live in freedom without the threat of violence."
- British MP Andy McDonald, 30 October 2023
British Mandate Palestine included Transjordan, now known as Jordan.
Those crying 'from the river to the sea' do not seek to free British Mandate Palestine. They seek to free Palestinians of the Jewish state/Jewish people. That's why it is a call for violence/hate/genocide.
This comment is very short, because the answer is simple. When chanting "from the river..." the goal and meaning are: Israel needs to be "cleansed" of Jews. The river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean Sea. These are the eastern and western borders of Israel. "Free" does not mean from oppression. In this context, "free" means "free of Jews."
There can be no question as to the meaning. There can be no equivocation that this is hate speech. This is not about morality, justice or any other bill-of-goods the haters wish to peddle. It is merely antisemitism in its pure and unadulterated form.
The use of From the River to the Sea is an extension of Replacement theology. It is a call for the area in question to be free of Jews and the Jewish State as it is now only a Muslim holy land. The excuses and rationalizations that some give fail to understand its historical usage and its obvious meaning. I worked with many Arab nationals in my military career including soldiers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere and they all when no one else is looking over their shoulders tell you that such phrases are clearly meant to replace Israel with another Arab/Moslem State and any other meanings given are pure propaganda.
The quote - ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is not at all antisemitic. There are millions of self loving Jewish people who realise genocide of anyone is wrong, murder of any Palestinians is wrong, keeping them in an open air prison for close to a century is wrong, that this is a WAR ON PALESTINE, BY Israel and MUST BE STOPPED. There are many Israeli government and military officials who are OPENLY pro genocide of Palestinians yet they are supposed to be ‘doing the right thing’ and it’s ‘in response to Hamas’ attack on Israelis’ ….. utter lies. I know many Jewish people who share this view openly - that ALL PALESTINIANS MUST BE FREE and Israel is committing ONGOING INTENTIONAL GENOCIDE of Palestinians for near 8 months. This doesn’t even include the ongoing horrific treatment of ALL PALESTINIANS by Israel for 76 yrs. The Nakba anniversary that just has come IS TESTIMONY TO THE ONGOING ATROCITIES AGAINST ALL PALESTINIANS FOR DECADES. FREE PALESTINE NOW AND FOREVER
The Free Palestine from the River to the sea is intimidating, inciteful and Antisemitic. It calls for the annihilation of the Jewish citizens of Israel, and also ignores the tyrannical form of government that would persecute any and all liberal lifestyles.
There is a complete flattening of understanding on social media about the complex historical and human relationship to land, nation, and faith in the region we call “Israel” and “Palestine”. By allowing those with absolutely no deep or even superficial understanding of the dangers of language to freely spout nonsense without any factual data to support their claims, Meta is allowing a space where individuals command violence on all sides of this conflict. Those who are actually on the ground and not supported by terrorist organizations understand the cost here. Please consider disallowing language that does not have any serious or intentional understanding of the true and complex nature of this conflict.
The slogan "From the river to the sea (Palestine will be free)" means that there will be no Jews left in Israel.
It is a call for genocide against all Jews in Israel.
It’s not that difficult to parse this. Just as the phrase “Make America Great Again” appears generic and nonpartisan but has a very specific meaning in political discourse, just as the phrase “all lives matter” is virtually a tautology but also has a very specific meaning, so does “from the river to the sea”.
There are two points which confirm this:
1. All of the organizations which promote this phrase oppose the existence of a Jewish state in any part of the Jewish homeland.
2. By the most widely adopted definition of antisemitism (the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, adopted by over 3 dozen democracies and over two-thirds of US states), rejection of the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state is antisemitic.
Therefore the use of this phrase must be considered antisemitic.