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
This antisemitic phrase has nothing to do with human rights. It is a direct call for the annihilation of Israel and the genocide or deportation of the Jews in it.
It covers for a call for murder and killings of the Jewish people.
Further more, the context it is mentioned in praises terror, rape, torture and atrocities against civilians in Israel.
From the river to the sea is offensive to me because it means that Jewish state is to be eliminated.
This chant is against humanity
And it is antisemitic, since it is
Calling for the extermination of all the Jews that live in the Jewish homeland since
thousands of years
Before Muslims existed
And Muhammad was not born yet
The phrase means the annihilation of Israel and is a call for genocide. Posts should absolutely be flagged and taken off.
The meaning of that catchy phrase is that the state of Israel cease to exist. It's actually a call for the massacre and for the extinction of the Jewish people in Israel.
Obviously there needs to be education regarding the phrase “from the river to the sea”. This is not a call to harm; it is a call to liberate an oppressed people. The second part of that call is “Palestine will be free”. There is an actual ongoing genocide, and that phrase means we want it to end. It is no secret that Israel was created on occupied land, by colonizers. It is no secret it is an apartheid system. Palestinians are treated as less than and openly called animals.
The phrase is a call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli statehood and decades-long, open-ended Israeli military rule over millions of Palestinians. People have literally been living in an open air concentration camp. Now, they’re being forced out of their homes (again), told to move south where it’s “safe”, and then bombed again. And you’re concerned that a phrase calling for peace is hate speech?! I’ve seen no calls to remove actual hate speech from Israeli supporters- calling to “destroy them all”, calling Palestinians “human animals”, calling to “kill all their mothers, fathers, and children”, and supporting “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth”. All actual quotes literally meaning to commit genocide. The support for white peoples fear over possible crimes weighing more than a brown person’s actual physical assault and murder is insane. The fact that this is even up for debate means you have a lot of learning to do; please educate yourselves. Jewish people themselves are protesting this genocide, and know that “From the river to the sea” means to allow all people to live freely on that land. I am thankful you even opened it to the public; this gives me some hope that people can be educated and do the right thing, though I am disappointed I am having to convince people what the Israeli government is doing is evil and clearly wrong. They are obviously using antisemitism as propaganda to give them a free pass to continue to oppress Palestine. Do not silence the Palestinian people and their supporters. They have been silenced for too long.
"from the river to sea" is genocidal hate speech
Gary Bykoff MD
Hartford Connecticut
For many uneducated people the call "from the river to the sea…" is an amorphic aspiration for the liberation of the Arab population that refers to themselves as "Palestinians".
The fact that the river and the sea are real geographical features, the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea, makes this call a very specific and geographical idea- to free all the land between the river to the sea from Jews and Israelis and make all of that area a space free of non-Palestinian people.
This call and the notion it represents are literally advocating for the destruction
of the state of Israel and the killing or displacing of the population situated there while disregarding the moral, historical and legal rights of the Jewish people for self determination and the right for a national home.
Therefor I'm appealing to you to callout this slogan for what it really is- a call for genocide and ban it from your social media platforms.
Thank you,
Itamar Haviv
It's an offensive slogan that incites the murder and deportation of jews from Israel under the guise of a peaceful demonstration slogan.
“FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA” means that the Palestinians will have everything “FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA” , and no Jews will be allowed in this region as they plainly state in their public declarations. This is the main reason that I think that this phrase should not be allowed. This sums the hate for Israel, Jews and Zionism.
Why is that even a question? Everyone knows “from the river or the sea” is a call to genocide all *Jews* in the Middle East. It isn’t it anti Israel or anti Zionism, but anti Jews
“Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north,” Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’s former leader, said in a speech in Gaza celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas. “There will be no concession on any inch of the land.”
From ‘the river to the sea’ is a clear call for the irradiation of the State of Israel, and a replacement of Arab rule. This is evidenced by the Arab original of the phrase that says ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Arab’ signalling that there is not peace in their hearts as they want to eradicate non Arabs from the land. The chant, hashtag and statement is a call for hate and violence and should be prevented.
Meta has a responsibility to prevent elements inciting hate and violence on their social platform.
Thank you.
This phrase has been proven to be a call for genocide. It is being weaponized not just against Israel but all Jews. It’s time Meta did more to protect Jewish users. I’ve reported overt Jew hate and been told it doesn’t violate community standards. Protect your Jewish and Israeli users. Take a stand.
Advocating for Palestenian statehood is not antisemetic. Calling for the elimination of the only Jewish state is.
1. "From the river to the sea" calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.
2. The phrase was adopted by recognized Terror organizations such as Hamas: “Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north...there will be no concession on any inch of the land.” Khaled Mashaal, Hamas former leader in a speech in Gaza celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas.
source: https://apnews.com/article/river-sea-israel-gaza-hamas-protests-d7abbd756f481fe50b6fa5c0b907cd49
Or Hezbollah: "Palestine from the river to the sea is the property of the Palestinian people and they shall return to it...while we never said we wanted to throw anyone into the sea, those who flocked to Palestine must leave" Nasrallah, 2020.
Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-quds-day-speech-nasrallah-says-jews-must-leave-israel/
This is the modern continuation of the PLO Charters of 1964 and 1968, which stipulated that Jews would have to renounce their collective right to self-determination if they wished to remain in a future state of Palestine.
3. Those who use this phrase today do not oppose this interpertation. Rather, confirm that it is a rejection of any 2 state solution. They clearly state it means replacing the Jewish state with a Palestenian one: "It is true that a state of Palestine would entail the end of Israel as a Jewish ethnic-national state."
source: https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/on-the-history-meaning-and-power-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea/
Advocating for Palestenian statehood is not antisemetic. Calling for the elimination of the only Jewish state is.
This is an expression of the destruction of the State of Israel and the destruction of the people in the area of the Land of Israel
Erase and ban the sentence because it is a call for the eradication of the State of Israel which got its legitimacy by UNITED NATIONS.
It is incitement for aggression without provocation for destruction of the Jewish State.
This phrase is a direct call for the destruction of the state of Israel, and killing of all the Jews here. I am a 2nd generation born here and so are my children.
This phrase is a direct call for violence anf genocide against me, my family and all our beautiful nation located in our ancestral homeland. The only Jewish country in the world.
As such its use is in contrast to your policy to disallow spread of violence, call foe violence, call foe genocide and discrimination against a people or ethnic or religious group and should be banned.
The phrase was first used by Likud Zionists. In the UK it is legal. Jewish people like myself who do not support Zionism have no problem with the phrase.
Antisemitism has many forms. This is one of them. The river refers to the Jordan River on the east border of Israel and ,"The sea" refers to the Mediterranean Sea, Israel's west border. So chanting such hatred means the annihilation of the state of Israel. In other words killing the jewish Israelis or making them all refugees driving them out of their homeland (including land within the "Green line")
Israel left Gaza in 2005 and the Palestinian's plight is real, and is a direct result of the Hamas corruption suffocating their people, stealing aid, funds and medications while storing weapons and arms in schools, hospitals and mosques. A murderous violent terrorist group that raped, killed and kidnapped babies and civilians, not only from Israel.
No such intisemetic language against Israel's right to exist should be tolerated
The catch cry "from the river to the sea Palestine will be free" promotes hatred towards a group of people. It is used to incite violence against innocent noncombatant civilians of a particular race, both in their homeland and abroard, through out the entire world.
These people, Israelies, are verbally and sometimes physically abused for no reason other than their ancestral heritage.
The common thread in these attacks is the ideology of hatred embodied in the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".
In this day and age of incusion, safe spaces, tolerance and acceptance, it is unacceptable for any ethnic group to be singled out and attacked for nothing more than who they are by birth.
To this end, I request, demand, that the phrase "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", be included in the category of 'hate speech' and be censored vigorously.
Furthermore, those who insist on using the phrase to incite violence against poeple from Israel, be restriced in their ability to post material, comment and, in the case of repeat offenders, removed from the social media platform.