I see that Israel supporters take exception to the expression ‘from the river to the sea’ as meaning that all Jews should be wiped out. I thought the next line was ‘shall be free’ but I could be wrong.*
Of course the older expression that applies in this context is ‘wiped off the map’. That could be achieved bloodlessly by simply changing Israel’s name to ‘Palestine’, then emphasising that all within those borders are equal. Will never happen of course!
Any Israeli leader who proposed it would be at risk of assassination by ultra-orthodox extremists; it’s happened before.
Of course there are those who argue that ‘Palestine’ is a made-up name, and doesn’t really exist. That would have to mean that that word ‘Philistine’ as it occurs in the Old Testament, would be made up too. Oh yes, if the Oxford Dictionary (and website for that matter) says that the two names are historically connected then that’s where I’d put my money. Apparently the Jews and Palestinians were at each other’s throats in southern Israel since well before Jesus.
The Palestinians/Philistines are thought to be non-semitic migrants from Crete or Cyprus, but then the Jews in truth came from Egypt (and incidentally wiped out the Cannanites, who weren’t worshipping the correct gods). And those who call themselves ‘Australians’ came from elsewhere too, right?
Fast Buck$, Coorabell
*Ed: it’s ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.
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