Protesters Regret ‘From the River to the Sea’ Phrase Upon Learning Meaning

“From the river to the sea” is a battle cry chanted by pro-Palestinian groups across college campuses and major cities.

The phrase, which refers to the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, is often seen by pro-Palestinian voices as a call for dignity and freedom. The call for action looks to restore Palestinians’ land and political rights. However, to Israel and its supporters, it takes on a different meaning, often seen as a call to exterminate Israel as a Jewish state and the millions of Jewish people living in it.

A new survey found many potential protesters couldn’t explain the meaning behind the controversial phrase. UC Berkeley professor Ron Hassner hired a survey firm to poll 250 college students from across the country, and a majority, or roughly 86 percent, said they supported the phrase, a common protest chant to express support for Palestinians in the ongoing conflict against Israel.

Still, only 47 percent could name the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, which historically encompassed Palestine and today includes both Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

And even more surprising, once students learned more about the region, 67.8 percent of those surveyed no longer agreed with the sentiment.

Israel and Hamas have been in a violent conflict since October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people, according to the Associated Press, while subsequent Israeli military strikes in Gaza have led to the deaths of at least 20,000 people.

In response, many groups have demonstrated while chanting “from the river to the sea.” According to the survey, many students believed the sentiment was expressing support for the idea of Palestinians and Israel living peacefully side by side.

Even among students who said the chant called for Palestinians to force Israel out of Gaza and agreed with it, 60 percent changed their minds when learning it would cause 7 million Jewish and 2 million Arab Israelis “subjugation, expulsion or annihilation,” Hassner said.

“There’s no shame in being ignorant, unless one is screaming for the extermination of millions,” Hassner wrote in a Wall Street Journal piece describing his study.

“An art student from a liberal arts college in New England ‘probably’ supported the slogan because ‘Palestinians and Israelis should live together in one state,'” Hassner said in the article. “But when informed of recent polls in which most Palestinians and Israelis rejected the one-state solution, this student lost his enthusiasm. So did 41% of students in that group.”

So why are so many students supporting a stance on an issue they know little about, or even going to protest on campus or in city streets?

Psychologist Thomas Plant said that for many, being a part of a cause or group is about developing an identity.

“In our current age of social media, people think about issues in terms of tweets or bumper sticker slogans,” Plant told Newsweek. “Like so many other issues of the day, the Middle East conflict is extremely complicated at so many levels. People don’t necessarily have the time or interest to educate themselves about these complexities, preferring to stick with slogans and feel the support of a group that helps to create community and an identity.”

According to Adam Swart, CEO and founder of Crowds on Demand, a firm that helps organizations advocate for important causes and settle disputes, protest organizers have been linking their events to broader movements like “Black Lives Matter” through a shared narrative of struggle and solidarity.

Succinct slogans, like “from the river to the sea” or “defund the police” often demand others’ attention, and they are especially popular to younger audiences like college students.

“In a digital age marked by extensive social media engagement, many individuals feel a sense of urgency to participate in these discussions,” Swart told Newsweek. “This phenomenon is partly driven by FOMO [fear of missing out], a prevailing belief in some groups that remaining silent on these issues could be interpreted as complicity.”

There’s also a desire by many people, especially students, to be involved in the “hot” social media issue of the day and “not so much due to a true genuine desire to either make a difference or have a positive, meaningful impact made,” William Hall, political science professor at Webster University, told Newsweek.

Hall said that historically, protesters devote the time to become informed about the key issues and stances they represent. But more modern-day protests, including those over the Middle East conflict, mark a deviation from the historical norm that might be amplified by today’s social media.

Enduring Ignorance of Middle Eastern Conflict

Ignorance around the Middle East has been present in the United States for a long time, according to Joseph Richard Guthein, a Texas-based attorney at Gutheinz Law Firm.

Around 45 years ago, Guthein was earning his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California, Davis, and he got to observe a group of students demonstrating in favor of Palestinians against Israel.

“When I interviewed those college students, I was floored by the large number of students I interviewed that had no idea what countries bordered Israel or any basic facts about the history of Israel or Palestine,” Guthein told Newsweek.

He added students knew very little about any terrorist attacks against Israel, including the Munich Olympics massacre that ended in the murders of 11 Israeli Olympic team athletes.

“When I offered examples of savage terrorist attacks against Jewish people, the students either didn’t care or didn’t believe it,” Guthein said.

Still, Guthein has noted a stark difference in pro-Palestinian protesters today.

“The biggest change I have seen over 40 years is now many demonstrators know of the atrocities and are glad they happened,” Guthein said.