Noa Tishby posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday slamming prominent anti-Israel Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for her claim that the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a call for freedom and peaceful coexistence.
Tishby is Israel’s former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel and author of Israel, A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth.
“From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity,” the Michigan congresswoman wrote on X.
Tishby quickly responded, denouncing the chant as a call for ethnic cleansing.
“Let me set the record straight, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, means from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, will be free from Israel, where 9 million Jews, Muslims, and Christians live. From the river to the sea is a chant that has been championed by fundamentalist Islamist terrorists for years, and it calls for ethnically cleansing the Jews from their ancestral land."
Hamas sympathizers have infiltrated the halls of Congress. Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib just tweeted this, “From the river to the sea,” she says, “is an aspirational call for freedom.” Let me set the record straight, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, means from… https://t.co/NdXaa00jcW pic.twitter.com/isa3WcX6se
— (((noa tishby))) (@noatishby) November 4, 2023
Tishby’s voice was joined by others who took to the social media platform to criticize Tlaib’s statement.
Are there malicious origins of the "From the river to the sea" chant?
Pro-Israel peace activist and Vice President of the Global Imams Council, Mohammad Tawhidi, otherwise known as the Imam of Peace, claimed the origins of the chant prove that it is a call for the ethnic cleansing of Jews and other non-Arabs.
“Rashida is a liar,” Tawhidi wrote. “Why? Because the chant ‘From the river to the sea’ is a translation of the original Arabic chant “from the water to the water, Palestine will remain Arab.” This is a genocidal call to ethnically cleanse the land from all non-Arabs, i.e. the Jews.”
Rashida is a liar. Why? Because the chant “From the river to the sea” is a translation of the original Arabic chant “from the water to the water, Palestine will remain Arab.” This is a genocidal call to ethnically cleanse the land from all non-Arabs i.e. the Jews. The original… https://t.co/w3A00yRtIr
— Imam of Peace (@Imamofpeace) November 4, 2023
Tishby, went a step further, accusing Tlaib of advocating on behalf of genocidal terrorists.
“On October 7, Hamas showed us exactly how they plan to free Palestine,” Tishby continued. “And you Congresswoman, are advocating on behalf of a genocidal terrorist organization. Shame on you, Congresswoman Tlaib.”
This is a point Tishby has been making consistently for a long time. In her book, Tishby accuses the anti-Israel movement, Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) of using the chant to advocate for the destruction of Israel.
“BDS is a movement that is actively working to eliminate the State of Israel. Their catchy chant 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' is literal,” Tishby writes.