‘From the river to the sea’ doesn’t violate Meta rules: Oversight panel

Panel says phrase, often utilized successful solidarity with Palestinians, does not interruption platform’s hatred code rules.

Meta’s autarkic oversight committee has ruled that the operation “from the stream to the sea”, often used successful solidarity with Palestinians, does not successful and of itself interruption the company’s existent policies.

The determination connected Wednesday from the panel, which makes last determinations connected the platform’s contented moderation decisions, followed a reappraisal of 3 posts. It comes amid a wider statement implicit the phrase, which has been prominently utilized by protesters successful solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel’s astir 11-month war connected Gaza.

It refers to the geographical country betwixt the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which encompasses Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“In upholding Meta’s decisions to support up the content, the bulk of the committee notes the operation has aggregate meanings and is utilized by radical successful assorted ways and with antithetic intentions,” the sheet said.

“Specifically, the 3 pieces of contented incorporate contextual signs of solidarity with Palestinians – but nary connection calling for unit oregon exclusion,” it added.

The determination was made arsenic the decease toll of Palestinians successful the warfare roseate to 40,861. The United Nations has said much than 90 percent of the colonisation has been displaced, starring to a humanitarian and wellness crisis. At slightest 1,139 radical were killed successful Israel successful the Hamas-led attacks connected October 7.

Israeli officials and pro-Israel groups person charged that the operation is simply a veiled telephone for unit and person framed it arsenic an “anti-Semitic” telephone for Jewish erasure. Nevertheless, immoderate Israeli officials person themselves utilized versions of the phrase’s geographical notation to telephone for afloat Israeli power implicit the occupied Palestinian territory.

Meta’s oversight committee said a number of committee members felt that aft the commencement of the war, the phrase’s usage successful a station should beryllium presumed to represent glorification of Hamas – the Palestinian radical that led the October 7 onslaught connected confederate Israel – and unit “unless determination are wide signals to the contrary”.

Palestinians and their supporters person framed the operation arsenic a telephone for self-determination and state from decades of Israeli concern and rights for Palestinians surviving crossed historical Palestine, a onshore that is present divided betwixt Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory pursuing the 1948 Nakba, oregon catastrophe, which resulted successful the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the instauration of Israel.

Speaking to Al Jazeera successful November, Nimer Sultany, a lecturer successful instrumentality astatine the School of Oriental and African Studies successful London, explained that overmuch of the statement has hinged connected the connection “free”.

He described the adjective arsenic expressing “the request for equality for each inhabitants of historical Palestine”.

“Those who enactment apartheid and Jewish supremacy volition find the egalitarian chant objectionable,” Sultany, a Palestinian national of Israel, told Al Jazeera.

“This continues to beryllium the crux of the problem: the ongoing denial of Palestinians to unrecorded successful equality, state and dignity similar everyone else,” Sultany said.

In a statement, Meta said: “We invited the board’s reappraisal of our guidance connected this matter.”

“While each of our policies are developed with information successful mind, we cognize they travel with planetary challenges and we regularly question input from experts extracurricular Meta, including the Oversight Board,” the institution said.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies