Ask Haviv Anything Episode 82: 'From the River to the Sea' - Lost in Translation?
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Jan 25, 2026 A concise dive into the meaning and history behind a contentious chant about the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Discussion covers competing national claims, political aims behind protest slogans, and how language can signal calls for one group's dominance over another. The episode teases legal texts, historical frames, and how rhetoric maps to political goals.
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Geographic Meaning And Competing Names
- "From the river to the sea" refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and invokes competing names and claims.
- Haviv Rettig Gur explains the phrase frames the entire territory as one political entity contested by Jews and Arabs.
Civic Democracy Framing Is Often External
- Activists who chant the slogan often claim it calls for a single civic democracy across the whole land.
- Haviv Rettig Gur notes this civic-democracy framing is commonly advanced by progressive outsiders rather than by Palestinians themselves.
Palestinian Foundational Texts Specify Identity
- Palestinian official documents contradict the civic-democracy claim by defining a Palestinian state with Arab and Muslim identity.
- Haviv Rettig Gur cites the 1988 declaration and constitutional texts that reference Arab identity and Sharia as a legislative source.