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House passes resolution condemning ‘From the river to the sea’ as antisemitic

house-passes-resolution-condemning-‘from-the-river-to-the-sea’-as-antisemitic
House passes resolution condemning ‘From the river to the sea’ as antisemitic

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution Tuesday condemning the motto “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic.

The symbolic measure passed the GOP-controlled chamber 377-44 — with 43 Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky voting against it.

Another Democrat, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, voted “present.”

Protestor pictured holding sign that reads

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution condemning the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic. Jonah Elkowitz for NY Post

The phrase has been chanted at universities and anti-Israel rallies around the US since Hamas attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people, including 33 Americans.

Critics say the motto, which refers to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, is a call for the eradication of Israel and its people.

The resolution, introduced in November by Long Island Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), said the slogan “seeks to deny Jewish people the right to self-determination” and noted its use as a “rallying cry” by terror groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“[A]nyone who calls for the eradication of Israel and the Jewish people are antisemitic and must always be condemned,” the resolution concluded.

Among those who voted “nay” were so-called Squad members Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and House Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Woke Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also voted against the resolution — months after she was censured for her harsh rhetoric toward Israel, including repeated use of the phrase.

U.S. Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY) arrives to a closed-door House Republican meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 20, 2023.

The measure was introduced by Long Island Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, who has argued that “antisemitic activists” who use the phrase “want nothing more than the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people inside it.” Getty Images

At the time, Tlaib called the slogan “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate.”

Dean explained her “present” vote by claiming she believes the phrase “has no place in discussing long-term peace for Israel and Palestine,” but added she would not support Republican “games.”

“Republicans prefer games over bills to support our allies and humanitarian aid,” she wrote on X.

“We must be purposeful with our words — and also with our time.”

Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.,  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., conduct a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center responding to negative comments by President Trump that were directed at the freshmen House Democrats on Monday, July 15, 2019.

Woke Squad members Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib voted against the measure. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he thought the resolution was an attempt to divide Democrats, according to the Hill.

But Meeks added that he felt he had to vote in favor of the resolution because he knows “the danger of the phrase.”

“If you consider the geographic area of the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea to be exclusively Palestine, you are taking the Jewish state of Israel off the map,” Meeks said on the House floor as he urged his fellow Democrats to vote in favor of the resolution.

An anti-Israel protestor tries to grab an American flag from Pro-Israel supporters as a police officer tries to stop it during a Pro-Palestine demonstration calling for economic blockade demanding a cease-fire on the Israel-Palestine conflict outside The New York Stock Exchange NYSE on Monday, April 15, 2024.

The phrase has been chanted at universities and rallies around the country since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. AP

Gottheimer agreed, writing on X: “As members of Congress, we have a right — and a responsibility — to condemn disgusting, divisive and dehumanizing chants.

“I’m proud to have passed my resolution with [D’Esposito] and [Moskowitz],” he added.

D’Esposito also declared on social media that “America will always #StandWithIsrael.”

In New York City, meanwhile, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said the passage of the resolution will put “pro-Hamas protesters” on notice.

“No more excuses, [like] it’s a call for self-determination in Palestine,” she posted. “It’s a call for Jewish genocide and [the] elimination of the only Jewish state.”

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