Facing questions about Berkeley, California's curriculum on anti-Semitism and the Israel-Palestine conflict, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel testified that she thought of certain contexts as a call for genocide, ” From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” may be anti-Semitic. But Morthel also said it was appropriate to teach Berkeley students that some believe the phrase is a call for peace.
In a new curriculum on the Middle East conflict, literature taught to students says: “For some Palestinians, 'from the river to the sea' is a call for freedom and peace.”
When asked if that was appropriate, Morthel said, “We definitely think it's important to expose our students to a diversity of ideas and perspectives, and if it was presented as one perspective, I think that's appropriate.”
Some pro-Palestinian advocates say the phrase is a call for justice and an end to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. But the Anti-Defamation League and many Israel supporters say the phrase is an anti-Semitic slogan because it calls for the destruction of Israel and the expulsion of Jews from the country.
