In a different world, “Free Palestine” might have been a noble rallying cry—a call for peace, justice, and human dignity for all people in the region. But we don’t live in that world. We live in a world where slogans are weaponized, where language is twisted to mask hatred, and where the phrase “Free Palestine” has been hijacked by radicals, antisemites, and naive student activists who often don’t even understand what they’re endorsing.
Let’s be very clear: it is not antisemitic to criticize Israel. It is not antisemitic to want peace for Palestinians. It is not antisemitic to oppose war. If you want to hold up a sign that says “Stop the war” or “Make love, not war”—go for it. If you want to advocate for peaceful coexistence, or diplomacy—that’s a conversation worth having.
But that’s not what “Free Palestine” has come to mean.
Today, “Free Palestine” has become indistinguishable from “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—a genocidal chant that calls for the elimination of Israel. It doesn’t mean “Let’s create a peaceful Palestinian state alongside Israel.” It means erase Israel. Destroy Israel. Replace it entirely with Palestine. In this context, “free” doesn’t mean liberation—it means erasure.
The phrase has been co-opted by Hamas and other extremist organizations who use it as a rallying cry for intifada—a violent uprising that has historically targeted Jewish civilians through suicide bombings, shootings, and stabbings. When protestors shout “Free Palestine” in 2025, they’re often waving the same flag that flew over Hamas terrorists who murdered, raped, and burned Israeli civilians alive on October 7.
We must stop pretending that the term is benign. It isn’t. It’s been radicalized. It’s been emptied of any genuine humanitarian meaning and replaced with a narrative of dehumanization and elimination. And while some students on college campuses may chant it out of ignorance or peer pressure, that doesn’t make it any less dangerous.
The Radical Propaganda Machine: A New Kind of Warfare
There’s another front in this war, and it’s not fought with rockets or tanks—it’s fought on TikTok, Instagram, and CNN. It’s the battlefield of public opinion, and Hamas has been masterful in waging psychological warfare far beyond Gaza’s borders.
As much as I despise Hamas with every fiber of my being—and I do—I’m not so blind as to miss their brilliance when it comes to propaganda. They’ve taken a terrorist brand and rebranded it as resistance. They’ve framed barbaric acts as bravery and turned complex geopolitical conflicts into 15-second emotional TikToks designed to enrage and radicalize.
They know exactly what they’re doing. Every dead child, every crumbling building, every cropped image or out-of-context video clip is weaponized. It’s not about truth—it’s about optics. It’s not about peace—it’s about pressure. And it’s working.
They’ve managed to sway global narratives, infiltrate Western academia, and galvanize massive online support from people who have never opened a history book or questioned the source of their information. Hamas doesn’t need a military victory—they need a viral one. And too many people are handing it to them on a silver platter.
This isn’t by accident. It’s strategy. They know that if they can turn Israel into the villain in the minds of the West, they don’t need to win the war—they just need to win the story. And they’re winning it among the uninformed, the easily manipulated, and the “activists” who think reposting a meme makes them freedom fighters.
We’re watching a radical propaganda machine in real-time, hijacking the language of liberation to push a deeply antisemitic and violent agenda. And if you don’t stop and think critically, if you don’t do your research, you become a pawn in their war. A war not just against Israel, but against truth itself.
When Jews Say It, It’s Even More Dangerous
What’s especially troubling is when Jews themselves use the slogan “Free Palestine.” Are they self-hating Jews? Probably not. Are they thinking it through? Definitely not.
These are often young people desperate to be seen as progressive, compassionate, and aligned with social justice causes—but they’ve been misled. Whether out of guilt, naivete, or a desire to fit in, they have embraced a phrase that ultimately calls for the dismantling of their own homeland. It’s not principled activism—it’s unintentional self-sabotage.
Many of them don’t understand that “Free Palestine” in its current usage means one thing: no Israel. It means siding with organizations that have written genocide into their charters. It means chanting alongside those who celebrate terrorist attacks against Jews. It means ignoring history, denying context, and participating—willingly or not—in the erasure of Jewish self-determination.
There’s nothing enlightened about joining a movement that would see your own people displaced, destroyed, or demonized. There’s nothing brave about shouting slogans you haven’t studied. And there’s nothing progressive about aligning with those who burn Israeli flags while calling for “liberation” through bloodshed.
To the Jews chanting “Free Palestine”: you’ve been played. You’ve confused slogans for substance and solidarity for surrender. This isn’t justice. This isn’t peace. This is propaganda—and you’re helping spread it.
The Stakes Are Too High
Imagine if someone started chanting “Free America” but what they really meant was “Overthrow the US government and replace it with Taliban rule.” You’d call that treason, not patriotism. You wouldn’t say, “Well, they’re just expressing themselves.” You’d call it what it is: a threat to everything we stand for.
That’s exactly what “Free Palestine” has become—a threat. A rhetorical tool to undermine the legitimacy of the only Jewish state. A coded way to support terrorism while claiming to support “justice.” A slogan that has turned college campuses into hotbeds of intimidation, where Jewish students are harassed, silenced, and afraid.
It’s antisemitism with a new paint job.
We cannot allow this to stand. Words matter. Slogans matter. When someone says “Free Palestine” today, they are not calling for peace—they are calling for the destruction of Israel. They are not siding with the oppressed—they are parroting propaganda. And whether they know it or not, they are aligning themselves with a movement rooted in hate.
If you truly want peace, then say so. Say “End the violence.” Say “Justice for all.” Say “Two states for two peoples.” But don’t hide behind a slogan that’s been twisted into a rallying cry for antisemitism, terror, and the fall of the West.
“Free Palestine” is no longer about freedom. It’s about fantasy—and that fantasy ends in fire.
Jonathan Ressler is an author, keynote speaker, and award-winning podcaster of “Shut Up and Choose.” He explores what it means to make bold decisions, live intentionally, and challenge the status quo. He lives in South Florida.