Anthony Albanese overrules Jason Clare on ‘from the river to the sea’ chant

‘It is a slogan that calls for opposition to a two-state solution,’ Anthony Albanese said as Jason Clare watched on, just a day after he said it could mean different things.

Anthony Albanese and Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: David Swift

Anthony Albanese has overruled Education Minister Jason Clare’s characterisation of the anti-Israel chant “from the river to the sea”, saying it opposes a two-state ­solution for Israel and Palestine, a long-held government position.

“It is a slogan that calls for ­opposition to a two-state solution,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference on Monday.

“My position is very clear and the government’s position is clear and it has been a bipartisan position for a long period of time.

“The government’s position is very clear, which is the long-term solution in the Middle East ­requires a two-state solution: the right of Israel to continue to exist within secure borders, but the right of Palestinians to have justice as well, to have self-determination, and also to be able to live in security, peace and prosperity.

“The government’s position is that, it’s that consistently and we’ll continue to put that forward as well. And I think that the slogan that you refer to dismisses that, which is not in the interests of Israelis, but is also not in the interests of Palestinians.”

Mr Clare, who was also at the press conference on Monday, watched on as Mr Albanese stated the position.

The Education Minister the day before had said calls for “intifada” and chants of “from the river to the sea” could mean different things to different groups.

“I’ve seen people say that those words mean the annihilation of Israel,” Mr Clare said on Sunday.

“I’ve seen people say that it means the opposite. I’ve seen people say they’re slogans Israeli political parties have used.”

Mr Clare came under fire for the statement, with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry calling it “thoroughly disappointing”.

The organisation’s co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin on Monday welcomed Mr Albanese’s statement.

“We welcome the Prime Minister’s clarification,” Mr Ryvchin said. “The chant not only opposes a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it proposes its own solution that would see the sovereign homeland of the Jewish people destroyed and replaced with another ethnically homogenous Arab state.

“It doesn’t envisage peaceful co-existence with Israel and its eight million Jews; it anticipates their destruction.

“Those that ignore this reality are doing public relations services for violent extremists by ­laundering calls for violence into supposedly respectable political positions.

“Hopefully the Prime Minister’s positive remarks will be heard by those who have brought hatred to our streets and campuses, which has damaged harmony in our country and undermined the safety and acceptance of Jewish Australians.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said Mr Clare’s comments on Sunday were ­“deeply disappointing and frankly raise doubts about his ability to ­fulfil his responsibilities during the current crisis on Australia’s university campuses”.

“As Prime Minister Albanese noted this morning, it is not a matter of opinion that, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Hamas-associated slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” amounts to opposition to a two state solution,” Mr Rubenstein said.

“Indeed, it is unequivocally a call for Israel’s destruction, and possibly, the ethnic cleansing of all its Jews.

“The original Arabic ­version of the slogan, which translates as ‘from the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab’, makes it even more clear that the slogan envisions no place for Israel or its Jewish inhabitants.

“Until our political leaders are prepared to confront the reality of the ugliness and incitement to ­violence that is occurring on our university campuses, and not hide behind obfuscation or claims that it’s just a matter of differing opinions, there is no hope that they can ensure the safety of Australian Jewish students or deal effectively with the profound threat such ­extremism poses to Australia remaining a tolerant, cohesive, multicultural society.”

Tensions remain high on university campuses around the country, with some pro-Palestine encampment protests having been pitched for more than a week.

Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson on Monday called on Mr Clare to ban hate speech on university ­campuses.

“Jason Clare’s trainwreck press conference when he claimed ­‘intifada’ and ‘from the river to the sea’ mean different things to different people shows an appalling failure of leadership,” Senator Henderson said.

“In defending the use of slogans and chants which call for terrorist violence against Israel and the ­destruction of the Israeli state, Jason Clare is implicitly green lighting anti-Jewish hate speech on university campuses.

“Following Jason Clare’s ­failure to directly condemn an ­activist academic who encouraged children to chant ‘intifada’, it is no wonder the Prime Minister has openly rebuked his education minister today.

“Jason Clare must ban hate speech on campuses to protect the safety of all university students and staff, or he must resign.”