US house condemns use of phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ chant as ‘antisemitic’

WORLD, April 17 (YPA) – The US House of Representatives adopted a resolution condemning the phrases “From the River to the Sea” and “Free Palestine” because they are “anti-Semitic. A charge has become commonly used against anyone criticizing Israel.

The measure passed by an overwhelming majority of 377-44-1, with 43 Democrats and one Republican voting against it and with one member voting “present” on Tuesday.

The text of the resolution notes that the words are used in speeches by the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated by US Congress as “foreign terrorist organizations”.

The resolution comes months after the House criticized Representative Rashida Tlaib (Democrat from Michigan) in November for posting a video on the social media platform TikTok featuring demonstrators chanting the same phrases.

Tlaib voted against the resolution on Tuesday.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, posted on X that the entire phrase is “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.

However, lawmakers, many of whom receive generous donations from the pro-Israel lobby in America, criticized the interpretation as a cover for language explicitly calling for the elimination of the Zionist entity.

E.M