In 2025, protesters stood outside synagogues in New York and London trying to prevent Jewish people from gaining access to a talk promoting aliyah, or immigration to Israel.[1] Those opposed chanted many slogans, among them “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.” On a different day, anti-Israel protest groups posted “Globalize the Intifada” on social media while pinpointing map locations of what they deemed Israeli companies and transit hubs.[2] These slogans, which invoke disputes about physical boundaries in the land of Israel, national identity, as well as political and armed conflict, have multiplied around the globe and are used and heard by people differently both in intent and meaning. While some may think these words refer to liberation and equal rights for Palestinians, in reality they are intensely antisemitic, portending harm and violence to the Jewish people and the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel.[3]

“From the River to the Sea” and “Globalize the Intifada” depict the entrenched challenges between Israelis and Palestinians living on one sliver of land in the Middle East that lies between the 200-mile Jordan River on the east side and the 970,000 square-mile Mediterranean Sea to the west.[4] The land between those two bodies of water includes Israel, with more than 7 million Jewish people and more than 2 million Arabs,[5] as well as the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza, home to 5.5 million Palestinians and nearly half a million Jewish people.[6] There are diverse opinions on how to share that land, resulting in strong rhetoric turned into slogans among those living there, which then spread to chanters worldwide who further complicate the context and purpose of the words.

In recent years, incidents at universities and public protests have borrowed and intensified the meaning of these Middle Eastern slogans. Today’s activists vary in their aim and understanding of the slogans—from complete ignorance of the political and geographical situation or historical context, to an expression of freedom and equal rights for Palestinians, to the calling for a single democratic state for Israelis and Palestinians, to a hope for a two-state solution, or to a demand for the dismantling of the State of Israel, which is perceived as a colonialist project. Many university students and other protesters have been formally and randomly surveyed to reveal their perception of the slogans’ meanings. One study of 250 American college students, conducted by university professor Ron Hassner of the University of California, Berkeley, found that less than half the students who supported “From the River to the Sea,” could accurately identify the specific river and sea.[7] Jewish organizations admit that most students do not realize their chants imply ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people or destruction of the Jewish state; but, according to Julie Rayman, managing director of policy and political affairs for the American Jewish Committee, “unfortunately they are echoing that exact trope.”[8]

Disputed Land

The Bible describes the land called Canaan between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as the location that God promised to Abraham and his descendants Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes of Israel through a perpetual covenant (Genesis 12, 17). Some biblical texts extend the promised boundaries to Israel even further from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea (Joshua 1:4; Ezekiel 47). In this narrative, the ancient Israelites were instructed by God to conquer the land so that it would become a place of worship and obedience to the God of Israel (Deuteronomy 7; Joshua 1). From the time of Joshua until today, there has been a continual presence of Jewish people in that land despite exile.

The biblical story relates that, depending on obedience to the God of Israel, Israelites would either live safely in the land or be expelled from it. Consequently, the Israelites were exiled by various enemy empires, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, who successively controlled the territory. After the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites returned to the land and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, only to be attacked and exiled, with its center of worship destroyed once more in the first century CE. Despite this expulsion, some Jewish people remained in the land. More Jewish people trickled back to the land throughout the centuries, followed by a larger migration in modern times.

After the Ottoman Empire’s rule of 400 years over the land, the British administered it until the State of Israel’s re-creation in 1948, returning the land to Jewish ownership once again. In 1947, the United Nations had proposed partitioning the land into distinct Jewish (55 percent of the land) and Arab states (45 percent), which was ultimately accepted by the Jewish people but rejected by Arab leadership.[9] Prior to and during the re-establishment of the State of Israel, turmoil ensued between Jewish people and Arab citizens, or Palestinians, living in the land that displaced hundreds of thousands of both people groups from villages within the land and outside of the land—800,000 Jewish people were forced out of Arab lands and about the same number of Palestinians were displaced.[10]

Several wars ensued after Israel’s re-establishment, intensifying Palestinian nationalism, with “From the River to the Sea”-type slogans calling for a liberation from Israel, from Egypt who administered Gaza, and from Jordan who administered the West Bank area and East Jerusalem. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank (of the Jordan River) from Jordan, the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and East Jerusalem, causing the Palestinian rhetoric of a perceived oppression to grow louder.

Origins of “From the River to the Sea”

The exact origin of “From the River to the Sea,” is murky. Some scholars say it comes from the Arabic version “From the Water to the Water, Palestine Is Arab,” which can be found originally in an Arabic song that joyfully affirms a Palestinian return to the land after their own exile.[11] The saying gained traction in the 1960s through Palestinian nationalist groups, especially the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who in its national charter called for Palestinian sovereignty over the land and held an adamant stance against Zionism, while allowing compliant “Jews of Palestinian origin” to remain.[12]

In 1988, the PLO claimed to be open to a two-state solution with Israel that would include a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem—all areas Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War—but its leadership under Yasser Arafat never committed to that peace process in reality.[13] While certain leaders in Israel’s modern history have advocated for just one Jewish state, it has always been a democratic state that offers dignity and equal rights for all of its citizens, including Arab Israelis.[14] These democratic values have been enshrined in Israel’s Basic Laws, its constitution, since 1958.[15]

The international ideal of a two-state solution has been greatly diminished due to continued attacks on Israel and subsequent wars with Palestinian militant groups like Hamas. Over time, especially with Hamas’s charters of 1987 and 2017, many Israelis saw the meaning of “From the River to the Sea,” to imply a total dismantling of the State of Israel. Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, stated in a 2012 speech that no part of the land would be conceded.[16] Consequently, Jewish people hear this chant as denying Israel’s right to exist.

Some scholars say that, overall, Palestinians do not fully agree about how the land should be shared. According to Maha Nassar, associate professor of modern Middle East history, recent polls indicate that Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza strip prefer more of a two-state solution with “an end to occupation, the removal of settlements, and a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines.”[17] She said that fewer would hold to one democratic state or a confederation of states with Muslims, Christians, and Jewish people living together with equal rights between the Jordan and Mediterranean.[18] Among Jewish Israelis, support for a two-state solution has declined in the past decade, with only 27 percent of Israelis backing it compared to 61 percent in 2012. This decline tracks with Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem where 66 percent supported a two-state solution in 2012, whereas now only 33 percent favor the plan, according to Gallup.[19]

Historical Roots of “Globalize the Intifada”

Jewish people and organizations worldwide see the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” as an even more vigorously antagonistic statement than “From the River to the Sea”—one that instigates violence against the State of Israel and the Jewish people globally who support Israel.[20] When most Jewish people hear the slogan, they feel threatened. The American Jewish Committee’s “State of Antisemitism in America 2025” report affirms that, when hearing or seeing “Globalize the Intifada,” the vast majority of Jewish Americans (88 percent) feel unsafe.[21]

The reason for the Jewish perception of this slogan arises out of the history of intifadas in Israel, where Islamist Palestinian groups set out to destroy Israel through violent armed struggle, or intifadas. The word in Arabic means “uprising” or “shaking off,” and in a historical context refers to two major uprisings against Israel. The First Intifada occurred from 1987–1990 and consisted of protests, clashes, and violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces. Large amounts of casualties on both sides were followed by diplomatic efforts at the Madrid Peace Conference and through the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. Through the Second Intifada, from 2000-2005, Palestinian militant groups like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade engaged in suicide bombings that targeted buses, restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels, killing about 1,000 Israelis.[22] Because of the history of the intifadas, Israelis and Jewish people worldwide view the phrase “Globalize the Intifada” as calling for attacks against its community, even outside of Israel.

In 2021, “Globalize the Intifada” gained traction in the United States through activist groups that organized protests and social media campaigns using toolkits with approved chants.[23] Like “From the River,” this slogan quickly made its way into street demonstrations, campus activism, social media, music, fashion, the arts, and politics. But rhetoric turned violent on December 2025 when the slogan inspired the murderous actions of two Muslim men who gunned down fifteen people celebrating the Jewish festival of Chanukah on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.[24] Thus, the intent of this chant to bring violence against the Jewish people on a global scale was actualized into a horrific reality more than 8,000 miles away from Israel itself.

Countries’ Reactions

Lawmakers in various countries who have witnessed hostility growing against Israelis and Jewish people globally have debated restricting anti-Israel slogans and chants. In the United States, several members of congress have introduced resolutions condemning “Globalize the Intifada” and “From the River to the Sea,” which they view as a rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people.[25] Germany has restricted these slogans and prosecutes protesters, while others like Canada and the Netherlands view these words as protected speech. Social media owners like Meta allow “From the River to the Sea” to continue on its platforms due to the possibility of multiple meanings.[26]

Jewish and Christian Response

The slogans “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be free” and “Globalize the Intifada” reveal how words are intertwined with a complicated mixture of history, identity, politics, religion, and violence. While they may hold the notion of liberation from what Palestinians and their supporters mistakenly view as a colonialist power, these words for the majority of Jewish people in Israel and worldwide evoke not only the memory of past attacks but have become current instigators of terrorism and an existential threat to the Jewish homeland and communities abroad.

These slogans ultimately reject the biblical worldview. Jewish people and Christians who uphold the view that the Abrahamic covenant is eternal and unconditional—including its integral land dimension—should find these slogans calling for the elimination of Israel deeply troubling. The Bible portrays covenant and land as inseparable; the God of Israel called Abraham to lift his eyes and behold the land God was giving him and his descendants, and to walk its length and width (Genesis 13:14–15, 17). As one ministry states, “A package deal is a package deal. In God’s eyes, the land and the nation go together because they are part of the same covenant.”[27] Therefore, Jewish people and Christians should speak out against calls to abrogate the Abrahamic covenant by dismantling the move of God that has currently reunited almost half of the 15.7 million Jewish people worldwide to that God-given land.[28]

The Coalition Against Antisemitism (CAAS) encourages all believers in Messiah Jesus who accept the eternality of the Abrahamic covenant to take action against all antisemitic sloganeering. When witnessing slogans that call for violence against the Jewish people, Jewish organizations encourage reporting it.[29] These slogans should not be used because both are associated with a desire to dismantle the State of Israel and threaten Jewish people worldwide. Many protestors who use these slogans do not comprehend their nefarious intent to destroy the Jewish state and the Jewish people, thus there are educational opportunities especially on college campuses. The Coalition Against Antisemitism and Chosen People Ministries offer a variety of resources for Christians to learn about the real meaning of these slogans as well as a variety of topics related to antisemitism.[30] Education, prayer, and action are all tools to combat the strong tide of antisemitism today, of which chanting slogans is merely one part.