The New Yorker Union posted a tweet Wednesday that used an anti-Semitic trope to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"Solidarity with Palestinians from the river to the sea who went on a 24-hour strike yesterday for dignity and liberation. #palestineonstrike," the union wrote on its Twitter account Wednesday afternoon.
The union deleted the tweet three hours later and posted a tweet apologizing for engaging in the anti-Semitic trope. It added that it did not intend for its endorsement of the elimination of Israel to distract from its "solidarity" with the Palestinian people.
"We stand in solidarity with the Palestinians who went on strike for dignity and rights. We’ve removed our original post, which used a phrase with connotations that distracted from our intended message of solidarity," the union wrote. "Solidarity is important—and so is accountability. We apologize."
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinians who went on strike for dignity and rights. We’ve removed our original post, which used a phrase with connotations that distracted from our intended message of solidarity.
— The New Yorker Union (@newyorkerunion) May 19, 2021
The phrase "from the river to the sea" invokes an anti-Semitic trope that advocates for erasing the existence of the state of Israel. The phrase calls for a Palestinian state that runs from the Jordan River, which borders Israel to the east, to the Mediterranean Sea, which borders Israel to the west. The phrase is a rallying cry for Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas.
Members of the media have invoked the trope before in discussing the conflict. CNN was forced to cut ties with Marc Lamont Hill, a professor and network contributor who gave a speech calling for "a free Palestine from the river to the sea."
The New Yorker Union's tweet was posted as violence between Israelis and Palestinians appears to be approaching a ceasefire. Days of rocket attacks from both sides have prompted pro-Palestinian activists to repeatedly call on Israel to back down from its attacks on terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The violence has prompted political clashes within the United States Congress. House Democrats voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to block the placing of sanctions on Hamas. House Republicans then pressed the Biden administration to resist calls from congressional Democrats to cut financial support for Israel.