House Resolution Condemning “From the River to the Sea” as Anti-Semitic

The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution (H.Res.883) condemning as anti-Semitic the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The chamber voted 377-44-1, with 43 progressives and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) opposing the measure and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) voting “present.”

Whereas the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is an antisemitic call to arms with the goal of the eradication of the State of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea;

Whereas the slogan seeks to deny Jewish people the right to self-determination and calls for the removal of the Jewish people from their ancestral homeland;

Whereas Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations and their sympathizers have used and continue to use this slogan as a rallying cry for action to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jewish people;

Whereas this rallying cry can promote violence against the State of Israel and the Jewish community globally;

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas committed a barbaric and uncivilized slaughter against the Jewish people, killing 1,200 people;

Whereas victims of this massacre included children, the elderly, Holocaust survivors, and women, who were murdered indiscriminately in their homes, communities, public spaces, and at a music festival;

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas reportedly beheaded dozens of babies, committed countless atrocities, and violently raped women;

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas recorded and broadcasted to the world mutilation, desecration, and public parading of bodies;

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas took over 240 hostages, including children, women, elderly Israelis, Americans, and other foreign nationals;

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered the highest number of Jewish people since the Holocaust;

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”;

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, “There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity.”;

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, “Resistance and jihad for the liberation of Palestine will remain a legitimate right.”;

Whereas this slogan is used by the same people who utter “death to America” and “death to Israel”;

Whereas former Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal called for the “day of rage”, a global mobilization against the State of Israel, which had profound consequences for Jewish communities around the world;

Whereas a member of the Hamas political bureau, Ghazi Hamad, in an interview about the October 7 massacres, vowed, “We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice and three times. The Al-Aqsa Deluge is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth.”;

Whereas Ghazi Hamad, in the same interview, responded, “Yes, of course”, when asked if he believed in the annihilation of Israel;

Whereas the Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah stated, “Palestine, from the sea to the river is the property of Arabs and Palestinians and no one has the right to give up even a single grain of earth or one stone.”;

Whereas Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on November 11, 2023, stated that the only solution to this war is “The establishment of the Palestinian State from the river to the sea.”;

Whereas the founder of al-Qaeda and the perpetrator of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden, stated, “Borders must be opened by force so as to obtain all the necessary requirements to liberate the entire Palestine from the river to the sea, God willing.”;

Whereas the former Dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, stated, “Glorious and sublime are our martyrs in Palestine, Iraq, and the nation as a whole. Long live Palestine, free and Arab, from the sea to the river”, and “Palestine is Arab and must be liberated from the river to the sea”;

Whereas this slogan neglects the fact that innocent civilians are used as human shields by Hamas;

Whereas Hamas intentionally locates its military weapons supply depots and intelligence outposts directly under and within civilian populated sites such as schools, mosques, residential buildings, and hospitals such as the Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza;

Whereas using civilians as human shields for protecting weapons and fighters from a lawful attack is considered a war crime;

Whereas hateful rhetoric obstructs peace efforts;

Whereas the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee deem this slogan antisemitic;

Whereas this slogan incites fear within the Jewish community in the United States and around the world;

Whereas students attending institutions of higher education have chanted and continue to chant this slogan since the barbarous October 7 massacres, yet all the while, their fellow Jewish students are being harassed and intimidated; and

Whereas this slogan has been used recently by violent protestors throughout the United States and the world: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that—

(1) the slogan, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, is outrightly antisemitic and must be strongly condemned;

(2) this slogan is divisive and does a disservice to Israelis, Palestinians, and all those in the region who seek peace;

(3) this slogan rejects calls for peace, stability, and safety in the region;

(4) this slogan perpetuates hatred against the State of Israel and the Jewish people; and

(5) anyone who calls for the eradication of Israel and the Jewish people are antisemitic and must always be condemned.

Attest: