What's funny is the whole "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" phrase. I've read arguments about how it just means freedom, not the extinction of Jews, more land for Palestinians, and whatever else; all benign of course. Cool, got it, check, roger.
Except it was started by the PLO...a terrorist organization. Later it was taken up by Hamas...a terrorist organization. Even if I accept (which I don't), the argument that rank-and-file people everywhere simply view this as a call for freedom and equality, and blah, blah, blah, the phrase was created by terrorists. BUT, if it is "merely" a call for freedom, there's still a problem:
(Shit, I kind of have to lead with this) "Nazi" symbols existed for hundreds of years before anyone heard of the Nazis. Runes, the Death's Head, the Iron Cross, the fucking swastika, all of it co-opted.
Easy internet digging found the Celtic Cross, various Roman images, the Crusades, Norse symbols, hand signs, memes....all of this was co-opted by hate groups, used by hate groups, banned in some cases...
The phrase, even if created without malicious intent (which I reject), needs to be recognized as evil and genocidal. It should be classified as hate speech. Don't let arguments to the contrary make you think otherwise.
(This would actually be a good topic for a paper or article by someone to flesh out the history of co-opted symbols, words, numbers, colors, etc.)
