IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 883 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the slogan, ‘‘from 

the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’’ is antisemitic and its use 

must be condemned. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2023 

Mr. D’ESPOSITO (for himself, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, and Mr. MOSKOWITZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the slogan, ‘‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will 

be free’’ is antisemitic and its use must be condemned. 

Whereas the slogan ‘‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will 

be free’’ is an antisemitic call to arms with the goal of 

the eradication of the State of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea; 

Whereas the slogan seeks to deny Jewish people the right to 

self-determination and calls for the removal of the Jewish 

people from their ancestral homeland; 

Whereas Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, 

and other terrorist organizations and their sympathizers 

have used and continue to use this slogan as a rallying 


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•HRES 883 IH 

cry for action to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jewish people; 

Whereas this rallying cry can promote violence against the 

State of Israel and the Jewish community globally; 

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas committed a barbaric 

and uncivilized slaughter against the Jewish people, killing 1,200 people; 

Whereas victims of this massacre included children, the elderly, Holocaust survivors, and women, who were murdered 

indiscriminately in their homes, communities, public 

spaces, and at a music festival; 

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas reportedly beheaded 

dozens of babies, committed countless atrocities, and violently raped women; 

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas recorded and broadcasted to the world mutilation, desecration, and public 

parading of bodies; 

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas took over 240 hostages, including children, women, elderly Israelis, Americans, and other foreign nationals; 

Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered the highest 

number of Jewish people since the Holocaust; 

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, ‘‘Hamas rejects any 

alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.’’; 

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, ‘‘There shall be no 

recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity.’’; 

Whereas Hamas’ 2017 Charter states, ‘‘Resistance and jihad 

for the liberation of Palestine will remain a legitimate 

right.’’; 


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•HRES 883 IH 

Whereas this slogan is used by the same people who utter 

‘‘death to America’’ and ‘‘death to Israel’’; 

Whereas former Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal called for the 

‘‘day of rage’’, a global mobilization against the State of 

Israel, which had profound consequences for Jewish communities around the world; 

Whereas a member of the Hamas political bureau, Ghazi 

Hamad, in an interview about the October 7 massacres, 

vowed, ‘‘We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do 

it twice and three times. The Al-Aqsa Deluge is just the 

first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth.’’; 

Whereas Ghazi Hamad, in the same interview, responded, 

‘‘Yes, of course’’, when asked if he believed in the annihilation of Israel; 

Whereas the Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan 

Nasrallah stated, ‘‘Palestine, from the sea to the river is 

the property of Arabs and Palestinians and no one has 

the right to give up even a single grain of earth or one 

stone.’’; 

Whereas Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on November 11, 

2023, stated that the only solution to this war is ‘‘The 

establishment of the Palestinian State from the river to 

the sea.’’; 

Whereas the founder of al-Qaeda and the perpetrator of the 

9/11 terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden, stated, ‘‘Borders must be opened by force so as to obtain all the necessary requirements to liberate the entire Palestine from 

the river to the sea, God willing.’’; 

Whereas the former Dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, stated, ‘‘Glorious and sublime are our martyrs in Palestine, 

Iraq, and the nation as a whole. Long live Palestine, free 


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•HRES 883 IH 

and Arab, from the sea to the river’’, and ‘‘Palestine is 

Arab and must be liberated from the river to the sea’’; 

Whereas this slogan neglects the fact that innocent civilians 

are used as human shields by Hamas; 

Whereas Hamas intentionally locates its military weapons 

supply depots and intelligence outposts directly under 

and within civilian populated sites such as schools, 

mosques, residential buildings, and hospitals such as the 

Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza; 

Whereas using civilians as human shields for protecting 

weapons and fighters from a lawful attack is considered 

a war crime; 

Whereas hateful rhetoric obstructs peace efforts; 

Whereas the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee deem this slogan antisemitic; 

Whereas this slogan incites fear within the Jewish community 

in the United States and around the world; 

Whereas students attending institutions of higher education 

have chanted and continue to chant this slogan since the 

barbarous October 7 massacres, yet all the while, their 

fellow Jewish students are being harassed and intimidated; and 

Whereas this slogan has been used recently by violent 

protestors throughout the United States and the world: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 


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•HRES 883 IH 

1 (1) the slogan, ‘‘from the river to the sea, Pal2 estine will be free’’, is outrightly antisemitic and 

3 must be strongly condemned; 

4 (2) this slogan is divisive and does a disservice 

5 to Israelis, Palestinians, and all those in the region 

6 who seek peace; 

7 (3) this slogan rejects calls for peace, stability, 

8 and safety in the region; 

9 (4) this slogan perpetuates hatred against the 

10 State of Israel and the Jewish people; and 

11 (5) anyone who calls for the eradication of 

12 Israel and the Jewish people are antisemitic and 

13 must always be condemned. 

Æ 


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