How to interpret a slogan
In November 2023, the phrase "From the river to the sea" was defined in Germany as an identifier of Hamas, and was banned. Anyone laying claim to the whole area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, so the reasoning went, was automatically questioning Israel’s right to exist, and their argument was therefore anti-Semitic. The sentence originated in the 1960s, and is therefore older than Hamas. But after demonstrators celebrated the atrocities of 7 October using the slogan "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", it was deemed hate speech against Jews.
This definition falls short, however. The vast majority of people use this slogan to call for a Palestine free from occupation and oppression, and are thereby expressing a legitimate concern. The crucial question, then, is who is calling out this sentence and in what context, and what ideas about Palestine are associated with it.
Alongside the Hamas variant glorifying violence, there are two other interpretations. Either it is about bringing an end to the occupation of the territories that have been occupied since 1967, and establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Or the aim is a one-state solution, which affords equal rights to all residents. In light of the seven million Jews and seven million non-Jews living in the territory, this could, in the medium term, turn Israel from a Jewish state into a state for all citizens. In neither case is anyone saying that Jews should be expelled or even murdered.
Different courts offer different assessments
To emphasise this, activists have altered the second half of the slogan. "Palestine will be free" has been replaced with "we demand equality", or "everyone must be free". Yet even these placards are being confiscated by police in Germany.
German courts are now deciding whether calling for equality and freedom for all should be classed as anti-Semitic. The Hesse Administrative Court is "extremely doubtful" about the half-sentence constituting a punishable offence, and has ruled that the slogan "From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free! For a free Palestine for ALL people" cannot be prohibited at demonstrations.
The Baden-Wurttemberg Administrative Court on the other hand backed the decision of the City of Freiburg, which banned the slogan in both written and spoken forms at a rally.
Germany's war discourse
The manner in which the escalation of violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip is being discussed is, in many ways, unsurprising
Extremists on both sides
How the half-sentence is dealt with becomes problematic when it is only classed as a criminal offence for one side. The current Israeli government is laying claim to the entire area west of the Jordan River – from the river to the sea – for "Eretz Israel", or greater Israel. Individual ministers have denied Palestinians the right not only to self-determination and sovereignty, but to exist as a people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working quite overtly for decades to prevent a Palestinian state; as far back as 1977 – ten years before Hamas was founded – the manifesto of his Likud Party affirmed that only Israel would have sovereignty "between the sea and the Jordan".
Extremists on both sides are therefore using this half-sentence to make claims that disregard the rights of the other nation – and yet the German government only sees radicals in the pro-Palestinian camp.
Punishing critical Jews in Germany for demanding freedom for all people between Jordan and the Mediterranean, while at the same time supporting a racist Israeli government with blatant plans for annexation – with words, money and weapons – is a mistake.
And yet another example of Germany’s double standards in the Middle East conflict.
© Qantara.de 2024
Translated from the German by Ruth Martin