From the river to the sea
“From the river to the sea” is a political slogan about the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. That area is often called Palestine and today includes Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. People use the phrase to argue for different goals: some want one state for everyone in that whole area, rather than separate states for Israelis and Palestinians; others see it as a call for freedom or for Arab or Islamic identity. Because of the many meanings, it is also seen as controversial or even threatening by some people.
Where the idea comes from is debated. Some historians point to early Zionist ideas that talked about Jewish sovereignty across all of historic Palestine, and to slogans and plans from the mid-20th century. In Israel, phrases about control “between the sea and the Jordan” have appeared in party platforms and political speeches over the years. In Palestinian history, the slogan began to appear in the 1960s and 1969 revisions of the PLO’s goals, which by then described a one-state solution in which all people in the area would have equal citizenship (not a state of Israel as it is today). The exact origin—when and where the phrase first showed up in Palestinian protest culture—isn’t clear.
Different versions of the slogan emphasize different ideas. The most common form in English, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” focuses on liberation from occupation and oppression. Other Arabic variants emphasize Arabic national identity or Islamic identity for Palestine. The wording in graffiti and chants has evolved over time, especially during the First Intifada in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Palestinian groups have used the slogan in different ways. The PLO’s 1964 charter and later revisions spoke of reclaiming the homeland and, in some versions, of equal rights for Jews who lived there if they accepted Palestinians’ national rights. By 1969, the PLO’s language had shifted toward the idea of a single democratic state that would replace Israel. Hamas, after updating its charter in 2017, still used the line in the sense of ending Jewish sovereignty in the area, while also accepting the idea of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders as a basis for national consensus.
Israeli politics has also used similar phrasing. The right-wing Likud party in 1977 said that “between the sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty.” Some Israeli leaders in the 2020s have used similar phrases about keeping exclusive Israeli sovereignty over the whole area. This has fed debates about what the slogan means for Jews’ right to self-determination in the land.
Around the world, opinions about the slogan split. Supporters say it calls for freedom, equality, and the end of occupation—standing with Palestinians’ right to live in dignity from the Jordan to the sea. Critics—often including many Jewish groups and some governments—argue that the phrase amounts to denying Israel’s right to exist or to be a Jewish state, and that it can be read as a call for violence or the removal of Jews from the land. Some organizations, like the Anti-Defamation League, have labeled the slogan antisemitic or as a call for the destruction of Israel in certain contexts, while others say it is not inherently antisemitic and can be understood in different ways.
The slogan has led to debates about free speech and legality in many countries. Courts in some places have protected use as political speech, while lawmakers in others have considered or enacted restrictions. Protests, speeches, and social media posts have popularized it, with both supporters and critics arguing about its meaning and consequences.
Public opinion among Palestinians has shown strong support for a single state that covers the whole area from the river to the sea; a large share of Palestinians surveyed in recent years describes that outcome as desirable, though opinions vary and other solutions are also discussed.
In short, the slogan is a powerful and divisive phrase tied to a long and complex history. For some, it expresses a hopeful vision of one equal state for all people in historic Palestine. For others, it signals a threat to Israel’s existence or to Jewish self-determination. Because of these different meanings, the slogan continues to be a focal point in debates about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:02 (CET).