I was saddened to hear that both Mandy Nolan and David Heilpern attended the ‘Ceasefire Now’ rally at Main Beach in Byron Bay on Sunday. Not because they supported a ceasefire between the Israeli Defence Forces and Hamas, but because the rally resulted in the usage of a well-known chant, demanding the extermination of all Israeli citizens.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the chant, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is an antisemitic slogan. At the end of the rally on Sunday, this cry was enthusiastically chanted over and again. It is the chant Hamas terrorists, ISIS and The Muslim Brotherhood use freely.
In its Charter, Hamas calls for the murder of every Jew in Israel, and in the world. Hamas has clearly stated that their chant, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ embodies this sentiment. The murder of all Israelis.
Fundamentally, it is a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state. It is a charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland of 3,600 years.
It is important to note that demanding justice for Palestinians should not mean, as this hateful phrase posits, denying the right of Israelis and Jews to exist.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
