“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”

By
John Minto
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99
2586

It’s astonishing that the deep-seated racists in the pro-Israel lobby can have the media and MPs rushing around to see which ones will or won’t use the chant “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free”. 

For heaven’s sake – more than 10,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Gaza including 3,900 children but instead of Labour and National calling for a ceasefire they get embroiled in a pathetic sideshow while the genocidal slaughter continues. 

It’s time for Labour and National to grow some spine and condemn Israeli war crimes as roundly as it condemned the killing of Israeli civilians. 

PSNA supporters will be chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at rallies and marches up and down the country this coming weekend.

This chant has been used for at least 50 years in protests for Palestinian human rights in New Zealand – long before the formation of Hamas.

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It’s deeply worrying that the level of media engagement on Palestine/Israel is so low that irresponsible statements by Act leader David Seymour and the pro-Israel lobby – statements which have been debunked again and again over many years – continue to be repeated and amplified in the media. 

Instead of asking MPs whether they will use this chant the media should be asking politicians why they won’t make a stand to stop the slaughter and call for a ceasefire. If it were European kids being slaughtered in their thousands the media would be demanding why Luxon says he hasn’t seen advice there have been breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza. 

They would never accept the rubbish responses Labour and National are giving for not condemning Israeli war crimes. 

The simple fact is Labour and National have condemned the killing of Israeli civilians but refuse to condemn the genocidal massacres of Palestinians playing our every day. 

The priority of our spineless major parties is not to offend Israel and the tiny, right-wing racist cabal in the pro-Israel lobby who throw around false smears of anti-semitism like confetti to stifle criticism of Israeli war crimes.

Israel is a racist, apartheid state “from the river to the sea” – as declared by every credible human rights organisation such as Amnesty Internationaland Human Rights Watch. Palestinians, no matter where they live in historic Palestine, face discrimination and oppression. The largest and most respected human rights group in Israel, B’Tselem, refers to Israel as “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid”

All Palestinians deserve equal rights in their colonised homeland “from the river to the sea” and attempts by the pro-Israel lobby to “police” the public debate to ultimately suggest some peoples’ rights are inherently more important than others are a needless distraction.

99 COMMENTS

  1. We expect pro Israel comments from the Tories and ACT but now the gutless Labour politicans are singing the same song. “From the river to the sea…”

  2. Kia ora, tautoko. Let us call out the ongoing colonisation, murder and violence inflicted against the people of Palestine. Lets stand against racism. Lets stand against genocide. Let us continue hold our political leaders to account in Aotearoa. Lets stand for the freedom of Palestine “from the river, to the see”

  3. Thanks for this John – shame the media continues with the western narrative. Whilst I heard numerous times about those civilians who were ‘kidnapped’ – half of whom were soldiers, we hear nothing of the 4000 Palestinian people who cross the border every day to work in Israel and who were taken to prison after the bombing on 7 October – there are 10,000 Palestinians in prison in Israel – some of them children.

    ‘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 not a call for genocide. 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.

    Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe’s book ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’ revisits the formation of the State of Israel. Between 1947 and 1949, when over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint.

    I read someone where that people had chanted ‘Gas the Jews’ this is appalling, but to suggest this happened in Aotearoa without naming where is rubbish, I am aware it was shouted out at a Sydney rally.

  5. We know we’re biting hard into racism when the only retort Zionists and their puppet media have is to talk nonsense about the slogans we have that are winning people over. Kia kaha.

  6. The only way to peace is for all those who live in that region be they Jews or Arabs of one kind or another to acknowledge they both have roots there of one kind or another and to look forward not backwards an determine to live peaceably together for the good of those who follow.
    It is also now time for all countries to stop sending aid to countries involved in this conflict as it has been found that the aid has been ending up in the hands of now immensely rich Palestinians who do not live in Palestine but in other cities of the world and who are funding the Hamas and funding the weapons. They should now be made to return the Aid to those it was meant for.

    • The weapons trade is a parallel world in itself – separate from the real world and its practices that we think we know and understand. Huh.

    • If you cannot tell the difference between supporting the Palestinian cause and Hamas, I would advise against categorising a woman as a lesbian, when she makes no such claim herself.

      • Having a problem with Gaza being attacked because of Hamas is the equivalent of having a problem with Germany being attached in WW2 because of the Nazi’s – yup not all Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas (just as not all Germans were Nazi’s) but enough do for their to win the last election in Gaza in 2006.
        Re Chole maybe I am old school but a woman being engaged to another woman is a lesbian in my book . .
        https://www.1news.co.nz/2020/01/16/green-mp-chloe-swarbrick-gets-engaged/

        • You might call it a lesbian relationship, but the MP concerned says she loves “people”… or tell it to Alex, a previous partner.

      • At no point did I indicate that the word ‘lesbian’ was an insult- and why not post under your actual name you coward.

        • People who murder women and children from the safety of their airplanes as they drop bombs on them (or those who support that), do not get a free pass use the word coward james ,,,,,,,,,

          ,,,, Liar tools for Israel (like james) should be used to help tell some truth, imo.

          So about Hamas getting the credit (the blame) for Israels work ,,,, Israeli government lies debunked by their own media https://www.bitchute.com/video/IeZhK9fBhgOY/ ……

          …… More footage of Israel killing anything that moved from the music festival/rave ,, including killing A LOT of their own….. Video released by Israeli army shows helicopters firing indiscriminately on 7 October https://youtu.be/ed0-OxNO_bQ

          Casualty figures released by Israel have Harretz claiming around 1000 dead as opposed to 1400 ….. with the majority of those being in the armed services ,,, who died while fighting and killing. https://rumble.com/v3uy7ua-truth-about-october-7-revealed-hamas-targeted-soldiers-not-civilians.html …

          Compare that to Israel who are killing 75% women, children and elderly ,,, well over 80% civilians if we include Palestinian non-fighter men ,,,,

          Where is the evidence for Israel’s claims about 7 October? https://youtu.be/oWNqu0V6iIM ……

          …. But James ,,, Gaby,,, Bob the first,,, Anne E,,, Andy,,, Im right,,, Nathan etc etc etc are all fine with Israel murdering women and children in ‘self defense’ ,,,, the self defense of Reprisals.

          Support for Israel goes down whenever the results of their ‘self defense’ are seen ,,,,,

          Share this video ,,, especially to those who mistakenly support Israel ……. Do Not Turn Away. #Gaza https://www.bitchute.com/video/7VAvYoERpQM/

          … It wont make any difference to the James B’s, Anne E’s and Gabys of this world ,,, but they are the bad minority trying to infect the rest.

  8. Origins of a saying

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/from-the-river-to-the-sea-where-does-the-slogan-come-from-and-what-does-it-mean-israel-palestine

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/from-the-river-to-the-sea-what-does-the-palestinian-slogan-really-mean

    Beginning – a unitary state, 1947-1967 Arab position. Anti-Zionist, not anti-semitism.

    Becoming – 1977, Likud’s concept of Israeli control of the West Bank. Anti Palestinian.

    Then Hamas 1988 charter – Anti-Zionism, not anti-semitism

    Then after the Oslo Accord, justice for Arabs within Israel, right of return for refuges and a Palestine state on 67 borders.

    Then in 2017 this was confused because Hamas agreed to an interim Palestinian state on 1967 borders, with right of return for refugees, but unlike the PA without recognising Israel as its long term goal was still anti-Zionist – a unitary state.

    For those who support a two state outcome, river to the sea is not even anti-Zionist, let alone anti-semitism.

    Of course when Likud and Hamas use it, it is either anti-Palestine or anti-Zionist.

  9. The idea of a nation state based on the exclusivity of a religion, cult or sect; the exclusivity of ethnicity or racial identity; of extreme political and/or economic ideology is just bloody ridiculous and doomed to failure. Especially in the 21st bloody Century.

    Jonestown = bad. Khalistan = bad (Only a handful of Sikhs are after one anyway despite all the shit stirring). Caliphate = bad.

    While Vatican = good (No wonder there are so many intelligent lapsed Miks well able to separate their faith from the sins of their child abusing superiors and Nazi protectors – possibly you included @ John).
    A state based on the monotheistic judaic faith = good (because they are the chosen people). Christians not quite so much and and Muslims not at all.

    We’re “progressing” towards feudalism. We might get there at the same time the planet has been burnt to a crisp.

    • You seem confused, the state of Israel includes a million Arabs. It also includes a million others not Jewish – they are not Jewish by religion and they do not have Jewish birth mothers – they merely have a grandfather or grandmother who was Jewish.

      Are you aware of the fight within Israel over the basic law and why?

      Are you aware anyone with an Irish grandparent can return to Eire (and play rugby for Eire) Anyone Kiwi with a UK grandparent gets a visa easily (or the right to play for England Wales or Scotland).

      Western Christendom/Christian kingdoms evolved into modern nation state democracy. Israeli/Jewish cultural tradition is based on their own founding national myth. It continued apart from Christian and Moslem regimes and when these cultural hegemony areas themselves became modern nation states (first in western Europe) Jews aspired to their own in their former homeland where some of them were still living amongst Palestinians.

      The threat of a Taleban takeover, or an Iranian Islamic theocracy, or Christian dominionisn (see Mike Johnson) or a Hamas ruled Palestine from the river to the Sea, or a Likud-Religious Zionist regime with sovereignty over the West Bank are all problems. As is Hindu Bharat nationalist rule in Kashmir, or Chinese rule of Tibet/NW China and Indonesian rule of Western Papua. But even so Afghanistan, Iran, USA, Israel, and Palestine have a right to be nation states alongside others, and a self governing autonomy for Kashmir, Tibet/NW China and Western Papua is also good.

  10. ‘From river to the sea’ invokes an image of peaceful and righteous existence for all people in the region. ‘Mowing the lawn’ on the other hand…

    • Why? What do you think would happen to Swarbrick under the Sharia rule Hamas tried to. Introduce a few years back?

  13. Shimon Dotan’s “The Settlers” shows the intentions of Israel are very clear. The Jewish state (sic) will keep expanding as long as their are Jews willing to emigrate and settle there. Palestinians are just an inconvenience to be managed away.

  14. Atheists of the world unite against these religious abominations. There is no God. Strike down anyone who hides beneath a banner of belief and delusion.

    PS – strike down does not mean “exterminate” and neither does Chloe – anyone who makes this assertion is effing delusional and believes in “their” Gawd above all and has no regard for anyone else.

    Fuck you and fuck your God

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