DOES “FREE PALESTINE” MEAN “KILL THE JEWS”?

I RECOILED THE FIRST TIME I HEARD THE PHRASE. NOW I RECOIL FOR A DIFFERENT REASON.

Angry white saviours say: “Free Palestine!”

I recoiled when I first heard the phrase: “Free Palestine” means “Kill the Jews.”

I felt revulsion when I heard this message. I have had to dig down to understand my reaction. It seems so wrong. But is it? I pondered.

The line of argument is problematic on so many fronts.

For one thing, one people’s freedom should not — does not — preclude the freedom of another. At least, in this case, it certainly need not. Zionism, to give a speedy history lesson, was largely premised on the assumption that neighbouring Arabs would welcome the Jewish state and the Jewish presence due to the economic, social and other benefits that would (and did) redound to everyone in the region.

But assuming economic advancement would trump tribal hatreds was one of the failed premises of the early Zionists. Even the massive increase in life expectancy over an unimaginably short time frame seems to have had no impact on Palestinian or broader Arab approaches to Zionists. The life expectancy in Palestine (mostly Arab, that is) at the start of the century was 30–35 years, and 50 years later it was 50–55, thanks to Zionist-introduced neonatal advancements, reduced malaria and other diseases and assorted modernizations. This was a modern miracle.

Of course, modernizations, increased lifespans and modern miracles were anathema if they were products of the Jews. Anti-Zionism kills, as I wrote recently. Better dead than Zionist — or even Zionist-adjacent, seems to be the prevailing Palestinian and Arab approach.

And if literal triumph over early death wasn’t going to move the needle, stupid economic advancement wasn’t going to soften any hearts, was it? Who cares whether you can feed your family if you are humiliated by the fact that Jews who don’t know their place as the subordinate people, amitrite?

I recently wrote about how the so-called “pro-Palestinian” movement has a positive message — “Free Palestine!” — and the pro-Israel movement has a negative one.

We are “anti-anti-Zionist.” We are “anti-antisemitic.” We exhibit a sort of double negative which, etymologically, may be a positive but comes across in chants and discourse simply as doubly negative.

The irony is that we have the positive message — peace, coexistence, social advancement — while they have the negative message: war, death, intolerance, hatred.

And yet put the two sides side-by-side on a street and they have the snappy, upbeat message “Free Palestine” and we are left stammering “Well, it’s sort of complicated, I mean, in the time of Abraham …”

We need to get a message for the post-literate era, I’m incredibly sad to say. (We can address later the underlying problem of political activists who refuse to read or learn complex history. For now, we are in a literal death battle for hearts and minds and we’re losing miserably.)

In the meantime, we need to acknowledge — and force the world to acknowledge — that what the Palestinian leaders and terrorists say is what they really mean.

The genocidal language these leaders and terrorists have invoked for more than 75 years, and which they have inculcated in their people through their (Western-funded) education system, religion, popular culture, news, weather and sports has been absolutely clear: There is no place in Western Asia for Jews. And while the “moderates” may say “Go back to Poland,” the rest are far less accommodating.

And let’s acknowledge the absolute lie at the heart of the phrase “Free Palestine.” An independent Palestine would be one of the least free places on earth. This is true not despite the activism of overseas feminists, queers, liberal churches, and associated do-gooders, but directly because of their activism.

They have rewarded and encouraged Palestinian extremism, violence and intolerance at every turn. They have never — please, prove me wrong, go ahead — advocated for anything that would result in an actually free Palestine, a place that is free for women, LGBTQ+ people, minorities or anyone else. Free Palestine, for everything else it is, is one of the emptiest phrases in the English language. That alone should disabuse any intelligent people of the idea that this is about anything constructive.

The chant “Free Palestine” is just about the only positive-sounding message coming from their side. The rest of it is overwhelmingly bloodthirsty. “From the river to the sea …” is, to be generous, a call for the destruction of Israel. To be less generous (and probably more realistic) it is a call for the destruction of Israelis. The accusation against Israel of “genocide,” which is a direct projection by people who (in the case of overseas activists) support a movement that (in the case of Hamas, Hezbollah and, arguably, the Palestinian Authority) aims for the genocide of Jews.

I still recoil when I see the phrase “Free Palestine means kill the Jews.”

But now, instead of recoiling because it suggests “my side” is engaged in the sort of inflammatory, abusive, hysterical terminology typical of the “other side,” I recoil because I realize, for a huge number of people, it’s true.

“Free Palestine” is a rhetorical wolf in peacenik’s clothing. It’s a positive, upbeat, hopeful message. But, when accompanied by the rest of the rhetoric at the same rallies, it’s clear: “Free Palestine” means “Kill the Jews.”