"From the river to the sea" (Arabic: من النهر إلى البحر min al-nahr ila al-bahr) is, and forms part of, a popular Palestinian political slogan. It has been used by many Palestinian nationalists to assert varying territorial claims as to the boundaries of an independent Palestinian state as encompassing all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the combined area of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
History
"Palestine from the river to the sea" was officially endorsed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) after it was founded in 1964. [1] The PLO claim was originally set on areas, controlled by the State of Israel following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, meaning the combined Coastal Plain, Galilee, Yizrael Valley, Arava Valley, and Negev Desert, but excluding West Bank (then controlled by Jordan) and Gaza Strip (occupied between 1959 and 1967 by Egypt).[2]
The PLO demand was rescinded in 1993, when the Israel–PLO Letters of Mutual Recognition were exchanged between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat as part of the Oslo I Accord. [3]
In a slightly different fashion, "Palestine from the river to the sea" is still claimed by Hamas,[4][5] referring to all areas of former Mandatory Palestine.
Usage
The slogan has frequently been used in statements by various Arab leaders.[6][7] It is also chanted at pro-Palestinian demonstrations,[8] often followed or preceded by the phrase "Palestine will be free".[9][10]
The slogan has found numerous variations in usage depending upon the group. Islamic supporters have utilized a version stating "Palestine is Islamic from the river to the sea".
Interpretations differ amongst supporters of the slogan. Civic figures have argued that it calls for a single state in all of historic Palestine where people of all religions have equal citizenship, while certain Islamic scholars have declared the Mahdi - an redemptive apocalyptic figure central to Islamic eschatology - will declare "Jerusalem is Arab Muslim, and Palestine — all of it, from the river to the sea — is Arab Muslim."