WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in introducing a resolution to condemn the antisemitic phrase “from the river to the sea” and its derivations.

“The phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ is a call for genocide against Jewish people and to annihilate the state of Israel. The only appropriate response to that threat is to condemn it, and this resolution deserves unanimous support,” said Kennedy. 

In a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray stated that hate crimes and threats against Jewish Americans are increasing. 

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, reports of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have increased 337%. Six college campuses, including Tulane University, are now under investigation by the U.S. Education Department after a rise in discrimination against Jewish students on campus.

“People who invoke this disgraceful, antisemitic slogan are calling for the mass murder of Jews, whether they know it or not. On October 7, the world saw the genocidal intent of the phrase, ‘From the River to the Sea.’ No one who uses this phrase should escape condemnation,” said Cotton. 

Background:

• At Tulane University, where approximately 43% of the student population is Jewish, pro-Palestine activists graffitied the slogan “from the river to the sea” on campus. 

• Demonstrators at Tulane University assaulted three Jewish students, breaking one student’s nose. 

• Kennedy spoke on the Senate floor about the Israel-Palestine conflict and condemned attacks against Jewish students in Louisiana.

Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Thune (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) also cosponsored the resolution.

The full text of the resolution is available here.