The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has slammed Meta’s Oversight Board for its latest decision claiming that the phrase “From the River to the Sea” should not lead to content removal because it does “not break Meta’s rules on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals.”
“’From the River to the Sea’ is a slogan created with the sole vision of destroying the national homeland of the Jewish people,” said CAM CEO Sacha Roytman. “It is genocidal in intent and meaning, and is not a legitimate political or ideological vision, because it targets the one Jewish state and its inhabitants for destruction.”
In July, Meta removed its comprehensive ban on the word “shaheed,” or martyr in English, following a year-long review by its Oversight Board.
“The Meta Oversight Board appear to have special rules for Jews and the Jewish State because they seem to always come down on the side of antisemites and give them a benefit of the doubt that they would dare not give any other racist or hate group. They have given a green light for incitement to genocide,” said Roytman.
In releasing its decision, the Meta Oversight Board picked out three examples which used the phrase claiming that because they “contain contextual signals of solidarity with Palestinians” they do not break hate speech rules.
In explaining its absurd decision, the majority of the Board noted that the phrase “From the River to the Sea” has multiple meanings, writing that “while it can be understood by some as encouraging and legitimizing antisemitism and the violent elimination of Israel and its people, it is also often used as a political call for solidarity, equal rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to end the war in Gaza.”
In May, CAM sent the Oversight Board a “White Paper” about why the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” is a violent call to genocide that should be banned from the social media platform.
“It shows a conscious bias that some on the Meta Oversight Board use a twisted logic and verbal contortions to protect antisemites,” continued Roytman. “We sent them the history and context of the phrase and how it was invented and used solely as a call for genocide by those who have openly and proudly called for the murder of Jews everywhere.”
“There is no amount of context or twisted logic that can excuse this outrage,” he concluded.
