Owner of the X platform, Elon Musk announced that it would suspend accounts that use the phrases “From the river to the sea”, “decolonization”, and similar “euphemisms.” Earlier, Musk has called himself a “free speech absolutist”, and took the position that the hotly disputed terms are clear hate speech meant to incite “extreme violence.”
As I said earlier this week, “decolonization”, “from the river to the sea” and similar euphemisms necessarily imply genocide.
Clear calls for extreme violence are against our terms of service and will result in suspension. https://t.co/1fCFo5Lezb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2023
“From the river to the sea” is a Palestinian slogan that signifies the liberation of occupied Palestine. The river referred to here is the Jordan River, and the sea references the Mediterranean Sea. It dates back to 1964, four years before the Nakba “catastrophe” which saw the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians. The slogan simply asserts their right to land. On the other hand, the term ‘decolonization’ is originally an academic one emerging from ‘post-colonialism’ which refers to the literal, and abstract undoing of a colonial occupation, either from the land itself or from the psychological, cultural, and generational aspects.
At risk of stating the obvious, anyone advocating the genocide of *any* group will be suspended from this platform
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 17, 2023
Preceding these remarks, Musk faced controversy over other comments that have been labeled as anti-Semitic by several organizations. On Wednesday, he replied to a post by X user, saying that Jewish people are promoting hatred against white people, which Musk called the “actual truth.” Many organizations have accused Musk of being anti-Semitic and boycotted Ads on X.
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