‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free’ Means Exactly That
An End to Zionism’s Jewish Supremacist State
Dear Norman,
You have been one of the most perceptive critics of Zionist ideology, its misuse of holocaust memory and the practices of the Israeli state.
So it is with surprise and dismay that during Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza, you have suggested that there might be some basis to Zionist accusations of ‘anti-Semitism’. This is something that Palestine supporters experience day in day out from the Zionists and the right-wing media. They don’t expect to hear it from you.
I am referring to your attack on the slogan, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free which has become the property of every single Palestinian demonstration, encampment and protest march.
Norman Finkelstein Speaking to Students at Columbia University
In your speech to Columbia University students on April 21you said:
I don’t agree with the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It’s very easy to amend and just say, “From the river to the sea, Palestinians will be free.” That simple, little amendment drastically reduces the possibility of your being manipulatively misunderstood....
any movement has to ask itself: What is its goal? What is its objective? What is it trying to achieve? A few years ago, “From the river to the sea” was a slogan of the movement.
However, there’s a very big difference when you’re essentially a political cult and you can shout any slogan that you like, because it has no public repercussions or reverberations... There’s a big difference between that situation and the situation you’re in today,....
You have to adjust to the new political reality that there are large numbers of people, probably a majority, who are potentially receptive to your message. I understand that sometimes a slogan is one that gives spirit to those who are involved in the movement. ...
I believe one has to exercise — not in a conservative sense, but a radical sense — in a moment like this, maximum responsibility to get out of one’s navel, to crawl out of one’s ego, and to always keep in mind the question: What are we trying to accomplish at this particular moment?
Finkelstein speaking to Columbia University Students
It is nothing less than a stab-in-the-back for you to attack this slogan at a time when it is being criticised as anti-Semitic by the establishment and racists such as Suella Braverman. It might be a good idea if you took your own advice to get out your navel and crawl out of your ego.
At Columbia you shied away from your own argument, perhaps because you realised that the audience was not receptive to your argument. But in your Guardian interview you
‘questioned the slogan “Palestine will be free, from the river to sea” as mostly ineffective for these purposes, due to how it inflames fears among Israel’s supporters and gives fuel to arguments that pro-Palestinian protests on US university campuses are antisemitic and even “genocidal”.
It was reported that ‘the students were largely unmoved’. As soon as you finished speaking they started chanting the very same slogan! You said:
The two problems I have with that are very simple. ... If you want to build a mass movement, you want to bring as many people as possible inside the big tent.... I have no doubt it was those screaming headlines every day about those student demonstrations that made Biden realize: “I have to do something now.”
I believe that a political slogan should be as clear and succinct as possible, to allow for no wiggle room that can be misinterpreted and exploited by the other side. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a slogan that gives the other side a lot of room to exploit. “What do you mean by Palestine will be free? Do you mean there is no room for Israel?” Ctd....The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
Tony's dead right. Norm's contrarianism looks foolish in this case.
This point aside, Norm is still, as Tony acknowledges, "one of the most perceptive critics of Zionist ideology, its misuse of holocaust memory and the practices of the Israeli state."
Re: Tony's dead right. Norm's contrarianism looks foolish in this case.
I never thought much of his 'two-state' is the best that can be got as I've always treated it as a lie but whatever it was, it was overtaken by events last year.The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
on June 15, 2024, 11:08 am