Free in both Gaza and the West Bank is the main one. “From the river to the sea excluding a 40 km gap roughly in the middle” just doesn’t have the same ring. There’s also the one-state interpretation, where the Jews are still there but living alongside Palestinians as equals (nice but currently implausible IMO).
Taken without any context, it actually says nothing about Israel at all, or the exact nature of said Palestinian freedom somewhere between those two landmarks. With context it means more, but the context varies considerably depending on whether it’s, say, a peace-loving Jew or Hamas saying it.
I understand that there actually might be some people that mean it in the ways you are explaining.
Since Hamas has adopted it more than 10 years ago, it is at least (!) a dogwhistle by now. The whole phrase is burned for a peaceful message because of this.
I wish there was a way to actually measure what people mean. As far as I can tell, there’s a lot of people just like me who think the Palestinians have gotten an unfair shake, but have nothing against Jews, or in some cases actually are Jews. The actual antisemites are also quietly in the same spaces. I really don’t think hate is the main motivator overall, but I can’t prove it either.
Sadly, that particular chant is probably going to have even more staying power now that it’s under attack.
What is the explanation then?
Free in both Gaza and the West Bank is the main one. “From the river to the sea excluding a 40 km gap roughly in the middle” just doesn’t have the same ring. There’s also the one-state interpretation, where the Jews are still there but living alongside Palestinians as equals (nice but currently implausible IMO).
Taken without any context, it actually says nothing about Israel at all, or the exact nature of said Palestinian freedom somewhere between those two landmarks. With context it means more, but the context varies considerably depending on whether it’s, say, a peace-loving Jew or Hamas saying it.
I understand that there actually might be some people that mean it in the ways you are explaining.
Since Hamas has adopted it more than 10 years ago, it is at least (!) a dogwhistle by now. The whole phrase is burned for a peaceful message because of this.
I wish there was a way to actually measure what people mean. As far as I can tell, there’s a lot of people just like me who think the Palestinians have gotten an unfair shake, but have nothing against Jews, or in some cases actually are Jews. The actual antisemites are also quietly in the same spaces. I really don’t think hate is the main motivator overall, but I can’t prove it either.
Sadly, that particular chant is probably going to have even more staying power now that it’s under attack.