“From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free” is the slogan now also being chanted in the streets of Copenhagen by an broad variety of pro-Palestinians appearing to range from outright supporters of the terrorist organization Hamas to well-meaning students and ordinary citizens protesting against the admittedly brutal use of force in the Israelian reply to the 7 October attack.
What they are essentially more or less consciously chanting even on the very day when Denmark celebrates the end of Nazi occupation in 1945 is the elimination of the State of Israel.
It is unclear what would happen to the over 7 million Jews living in Israel in the eventuality of a Hamas-governed State of Palestine gaining control of the whole territory spanning the present state of Israel, the Gaza strip, and the West Bank.
To my knowledge none of the Muslim countries in the Middle East, which previously hosted very substantial Jewish communities, have suggested any sort of repatriation of the Jews.
Quite understandably, Jewish citizens in Denmark and all over the world are worried about the re-emergence of the combination of the two words ‘elimination’ and ‘Jewish’ in the public debate.
When national, cultural and ethnic survival is at stake, people tend to ‘rally ‘round the flag’ and put aside political and ideological differences.
The ‘rally ‘round the flag’ phenomena is well described in the academic literature as “a concept used in political science and international relations to explain increased short-run popular support of a country’s government or political leaders during periods of international crisis or war.”
Although the context was very different indeed, this phenomena was in effect in Denmark just before and after the liberation from Nazi occupation, when the external threat resulted in very different democratically oriented political parties putting their differences aside to stand and negotiate united.
After the war and the end of the Nazi occupation, the very same parties formed a very broad coalition “freedom government” to make sure Denmark could navigate the immediate turmoil of post-war Europe.
Israelian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has never actively pursued a two-state solution including a free Palestine. But when “From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free” is being chanted in Copenhagen and all over the world, he is given the perfect excuse not to compromise.
If your opponent offers no compromise, but only elimination, why even bother negotiating the big picture?
Exactly because the slogan is “from the river to the sea”, and because Israel has the upper hand militarily and the support of the USA, Palestine will never be free.
