My lovely friend Ream Odetallah provided the most succinct explanation of the meaning “From River to the Sea”that I have ever seen.So many thanks and much love to her for sharing this pearl of knowledge.
In Reams words- “When we say from the River to the Sea, it means Palestine’s historic border, which is the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Rafah Aqaba Line, which separates it from the Egyptian Sinai from the southwest and the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River to the east, the Golan Heights slope near the shores of Tiberias and the northern Jordan River path in the north-east. But what are the 2 Palestinian poles called?
Ras al-Naqoura (North) – Ras al-Naqoura is a natural protected area located to the far south of the coastal plain in southern Lebanon, characterized by rocks that descend into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.In ancient times, Ras al-Naqoura was along the trade route between civilizations in northern Lebanon, Syria and southern Syria, including in Palestine, Egypt and North Africa, and the majority of the Ras al-Naqoura chain is located within the borders of Palestine, which are a variety of rocks, including limestone, where the sea water over the years has led to the carving of beautiful natural forms in these rocks as these views are located in the Lebanese border area.
During World War II, the British forces dug a railway tunnel between Haifa and operated it to Beirut to facilitate the movement of supplies from Egypt to the north. When the British withdrew in 1948, Israeli forces arrested residents of the Ras al-Naqoura area and blew up the railways and bridges in caves to prevent the Lebanese army from invading in this direction. During the Lebanon war, Israel introduced lines of Israeli tanks along the border and prepared to cross jeeps with the United Nations to monitor the movements of peacekeepers in the area. In brief, Israel $tole it and named it Rosh Hankra.
Um al- Rashrash (South)- Um al-Rashrash is a port city on the coast of the Red Sea. To its east is the Jordanian Aqaba and to its west is the Egyptian Taba, a perfect spot for tourism and for Israel to connect to the far east ports. The brief of Um al-Rashrash is 350 people were killed and buried in that land, invaded and renamed then turning into a tourist destination with no relief to the victims’ families until this very day. That is where the international contest of Miss Universe will be held this upcoming December.
It was not until the year 1952 was it named Eilat. This piece of land was illegally invaded by a Zionist gang that massacred 350 Egyptian soldiers and officers on March 10, 1949 and buried them in a mass grave. Until this very day Likud refuses any investigation to be conducted by the International Court of Justice.”
The Palestine Activists Handbook 