OP-ED: From Meta’s rules to our lips

By ALAN SMASON

The proverbial other shoe has dropped. In a ruling on Wednesday, the Oversight Board, a group of lawyers and experts who decide what is considered improper, inflammatory or hate speech on Facebook and Instagram has made a ruling regarding the provocative use of the term “From the river to the sea.”

Many Jewish groups have pointed to the controversial use of the phrase as a thinly-disguised delegitimization of the State of Israel. Israel exists within the boundaries between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. To use the phrase as a rallying cry solely for Palestinians thereby excludes Israel and lends legitimacy to Hamas and other terrorist groups who have long sought to demolish the Jewish State, remove the Jews living there and install a Muslim caliphate in the Levant.

The historic use of the term goes back to 1988 when it was used in the founding document of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group with roots that extend even further back to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The PLO had many terrorists groups within it including its offshoot Black September, which was responsible for the deaths of 11 Israeli Olympic Team members exactly 52 years ago today.

“While it can be used by some to encourage and legitimize antisemitism and the violent elimination of Israel and its people, it is also used as a political call for solidarity, equal rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to end the war in Gaza,” the board said.

All of this sounds like the gobbledygook uttered by the three university presidents brought before Congress to question their response to antisemitism on their campuses last fall. When asked if calling for the genocide of Jews might be deemed harassment or bullying, the general response generated was that it depends on the context.

So, if it’s okay to use the phrase now as a rallying cry for solidarity, might I respectfully suggest the Jewish people take the phrase and make it less offensive and more to their liking by changing the followup phrase and, therefore, changing the context. Instead of “Palestine will be free,” why not substitute with a more appropriate phrase demanding the Palestinian people recognize the right of the State of Israel to exist?

After all, this key point still separates Hamas terrorists and Iranian mullahs from the rest of the civilized world.

So, as of today, let Jews around the world use the phrase proudly: “From the river to the sea, Israel is meant to be.” 

Let the phrase be turned on its head and incorporated as a mantra chanted at rallies in support of Israel. After all, it’s not hate speech. Meta says so.