What do you understand from the chant 'Free Palestine'?

[piddocktrumperiness]

Just that really. I have seen there have been many marches these last few days where people in solidarity with Palestinians chant 'Free Palestine'
Now I understand that as Free Palestine from the occupation; West Bank vs Settlers, military rule, and blockades in Gaza.
I have asked a Palestinian friend and a Lebanese neighbour what they think it means and they confirmed what I thought.

But the chant is triggering many others to believe it is anti Semitic or that it means something else and it's passing me as to what else it could mean.

How do you think the freedom might be achieved? Peacefully? All the useful idiots out bellowing this over the weekend. It is a call to Jihad.

Many calling for this want the expulsion of all Jews from the region. Let’s not be naive about it. Some chanting may not realise.

I don't understand how it is a call to Jihad. You might have a small number of nutters chanting it as a trojan horse, but for the vast majority it is what it is.

How can someone read so much into it? @Teentaxidriver Get rid of Netanyahu, withdraw all settlements from West Bank; end military rule in the West Bank, remove blockade in Gaza. That will start the peace process

It means exactly what it says. It doesn't specify how, most people believe in peaceful means, but anyone who knows any history will know that until 1948 what we now call Israel was Palestine and people were uprooted and removed from the land they owned. The West Bank and Gaza occupation (illegal under un) was as a result of the 6 day war.

I don't know a single person who openly supports Hamas, or terrorism at all but I know plenty who support the rights of Palestinians to live in their ancestral homeland too, living together in peace, equality for all. I don't see that happening though, how?

Both Israelis and Palestinians living in peace is what we need

Literally no one I know or that they know think that@User98866

I know people who marched, they are Christians supporting the rights of Palestinians to live, nothing more, nothing less - not jihad, peace

So the way these threads generally work is:

1. Excuse my ignorance as I don't know much about the Arab Israeli conflict but could someone please explain to me [insert something emotive]
2. post some factually incorrect comments and deny certain events took place
3. when countered / challenged or corrected immediately shift to whataboutery
4. quickly moving on to conspiracy theories
5. once seeds of doubt are planted revert back to denial

The thing is both sides of this debate are driven by conviction and will dismiss any factual information that shows their comments to be fake news. Nothing will ever change both sides views and unless we stop emotive opinions and instead stick to the facts then it will be impossible to reach a peaceful solution.

Really?

‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” is a common call-to-arms for pro-Palestinian activists. It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.’

Given that Hamas will not accept any Jews existing there I’m not sure how people are seeing this as a peaceful cry.

It’s the “from the river to the sea” part that’s incredibly problematic

Well the answer is on the tin isn’t it
“from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”
i.e destruction of the state of Israel.
This is actually getting comical now. You think the above chant and “jihad jihad” chants can be translated as “would you mind terribly taking down the settlements”.
I wonder how you would interpret Jews chanting “destroy Gaza and West Bank”?
Would you say “oh gosh no they don’t actually mean what they are literally saying. They mean please dear chaps would you mind not raping Israeli girls to death”.
Or would chanting Jews perhaps get a different response to that of faux puzzled
bafflement?

I wish they'd chant 'Free Palestine from Hamas'. There's no hope for peace without that, otherwise yes, chanting 'Free Palestine' is openly and proudly supporting a terrorist organisation that wants to exterminate Jews. The treatment of Gaza is appalling, and should be protested, humanitarian aid and access needs to get in, but that needs a different slogan. I wholeheartedly agree there needs to be a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but not while Hamas have any sort of power and not by undermining the state of Israel.

Sorry I can't edit on the app - it should have read: ample humanitarian aid and medical support needs to be allowed in

To expel every Jewish person from Israel, by killing them through jihad.

It's a dog whistle to anti semities to wipe out Israel and Jewish people.
If you don't see that it is heard that way by Jewish people then you're part of the problem.
If Jewish people are telling you that's how it makes them feel you've no business saying it doesn't.

I think it means different things to different people who say it.

I think relying on information from two people to decide what everyone around the world who says a certain phrase means is very unusual.

I think people who can't possibly imagine what else it could mean could have found that out fairly easily about two threads down from here. Did you miss that OP? I'd find it for you, but this is quite a small little subforum so I'm sure you don't need me to do that.

Absolutely. Reminds me of the saying:

When people show you who they are belive them.

It really is gaslighting to suggest the protestors who chant that mean anything other than what they say.

anyone who knows any history will know that until 1948 what we now call Israel was Palestine

It was ruled over by the British, before that, the Ottomans, before that, someone else. Palestine has not been its on independant state since the year 70 when it was a Jewish state.

Maybe, what the Palestinians are saying, we are ok to be ruled over anyone as long as they are not Jewish.

Palestine was a name given by the Romans who conquered and exiled the Jews.

I think you underestimate the ignorance and naivety of the average western leftist who goes on these marches. They'll literally chant 'From the river to the sea' with no concept whatsoever of which river is even being referred to. Of course there are also those playing the innocent, as anyone can observe right here on MN all day long.

This ideology is one of the core reasons why younger generations in western countries are less and less supportive of Israel. When you reduce debate to a competition of emotions and identity politics, disputes will be resolved by reference to which group is Oppressor and which is Victim. Those roles have long since been assigned in the case of Israel. I'd stop feeding the crocodile if I were you.

I have no time for these people who mindlessly chant something so deeply offensive to the most persecuted minority group on earth.

I think you are right. They don't think they are calling for the expulsion and likely murder of all Jews in Israel ( and probably most definitely all the Palestinian Arab refugees who have escaped Hamas into Israel) because they have found a catchy slogan that rhymes. As Juliet Samuel commented in The Times, where were all these people when Palestinians were protesting against Hamas, and were brutally murdered for it? Where were they when Hamas destroyed infrastrucure built for the Palestinians with EU aid money, leaving the Palestinians at the mercy of the Israelis for their water and fuel supplies?

Maureen Lipman's attack on "bleeding heartless liberals" strikes a chord. The inane parroting of a clear call to jihad is being condoned by these useless fools. Palestine has been offered statehood five times since 1935.

It obviously means the extermination of the Jews

I genuinely think the majority of people marching would be horrified, if they knew that was the interpretation. 99% of people really don’t think the corollary of ‘free Palestine’ is extermination of the Jews. Really not. Whatever Hamas want. However naive you think people are.

It may seem an impossibility, but most people are assuming that there must be a way for Israel to thrive and be safe, whilst affording Palestinians the same human right. Hope springs eternal, and all that.

If it were Jewish people being marginalised, under siege and under constant bombardment without any protection, do you really think people would be standing by and rubbing their hands in glee? Maybe you do, and I’m sorry for that, but I can guarantee that would not be the case.

They don't know any of that though. This is the result of the education system in all western countries. It's been going that way for decades with essentially no opposition. A large cohort of left-leaning liberals did exactly the same thing during the Cold War acting as useful idiots for communist states. Many of those generations did learn their lesson eventually, but every year the universities churn out fresh batches of dupes.