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First of all, the phrase has been around since the 60s and was coined by the PLO not Hamas as some would love to claim.

Secondly, to explore what "free palestine from the river to the sea" means, we need to take a quick look at the past 75 years, during which israel had depopulated over 500 palestinian villages by killing and expelling the inhabitants of those villages and rendering them refugees. Following that, israel created what is called "the law of return" which resulted in prohibiting any of the expelled Palestinians to ever return to their home towns. Israel has also then started to implement systems that control the movement of the Palestinians that remained, control their economy, control their water and land, control who can marry who and even control their food intake.

So when the descendants of Palestinian refugees chant "from the river to the sea" what they are calling for is a palestine that is free from oppressive systems, a palestine whose land welcomes its inhabitants back, a palestine where everyone has equal rights, a palestine where the land with its indigenous plants and tree is allowed to flourish again, a land where Palestinians are allowed to visit the seaside; a free palestine.