LA Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove Votes Against Resolution Declaring “From the River to the Sea” Is Antisemitic

On Tuesday, April 16, the House passed a resolution declaring that the saying, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is an antisemitic slogan. Forty-four members of Congress – including LA Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Rep. Cori Bush – voted against it. Forty-three of those votes came from Democrats, while one came from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.

The Journal reached out to Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove for comment, but did not hear back.

U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (NY) and Congressman Jared Moskowitz (FL) led the bipartisan resolution.

Gottheimer said, “Our resolution makes it clear that the slogan ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is antisemitic and calls for the total eradication of the Jewish, democratic state of Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish people.”

In the past, Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove, who was formerly a CA state senator, spoke at a private event for AIPAC, where she brought up highlights of her Jewish Federation trip to Israel.

“From the river to the sea” refers to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and the slogan has been chanted on city streets and university campuses by anti-Israel protestors since the Oct. 7 massacre.

In the past, Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove, who was formerly a CA state senator, spoke at a private event for AIPAC, where she brought up highlights of her Jewish Federation trip to Israel.

Before she was elected as a congresswoman in 2022, she told the Journal that Israel is “an example of what a young, vibrant democracy looks like, and we should be supporting it,” and that she doesn’t subscribe to the anti-Israel rhetoric in her party from politicians like Ilhan Omar.

“Who would I be to marginalize an important, vocal, engaged and vulnerable population in my community?” Kamlager-Dove said at the time. “I don’t know Ilhan [Omar]’s constituency, but I wouldn’t stand for it. We have an obligation to talk about the consequences of hateful language on all sides within our party, as well as outside of it.”

Kamlager-Dove represents the 37^th district, which includes a large Jewish population in Pico-Robertson, Beverlywood and West LA. According to Open Secrets, during the 2022 election cycle, she received $5,500 in donations from AIPAC and $17,830 from JStreetPAC – her third largest donor – which calls itself a “pro-peace” and “anti-occupation” alternative to AIPAC.

On November 3 of last year, Kamlager-Dove put out a statement that she supported a “humanitarian pause” in Israel and Gaza, saying that “Israel has a right to defend itself, and its military strategy must abide by international law, must be operationally incisive, and work to protect civilian life… I represent a large and diverse Jewish community in Los Angeles that has been grappling with the effects of this terrorist attack, including an alarming uptick in antisemitism. Many are also connecting with their Muslim and Palestinian brothers and sisters to rebuild a fractured community and continue the work of peace. The impact of this crisis has been a catalyst of hate crimes against American Muslims and American Jews.”

A month later, on December 5, the congresswoman voted “present” for H. Res. 894, which was a resolution put forth that denounced and condemned all instances of antisemitism in the U.S. and globally. It also stated that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, and it passed.

“Under the guise of condemning antisemitism, Republicans are weaponizing words and preying on the trauma of the American Jewish community by purposely including an overly broad definition of antisemitism that goes so far as to imply that it is antisemitic to criticize the actions of the Israeli government,” said Kamlager-Dove in a press release after the vote. “This is a dangerous conflation that politicizes and minimizes the anxieties of the Jewish community and the desire for a safe Israel to score cheap political points.”

In the same statement, she continued, “We also cannot forget that systematically rooting out antisemitism requires dismantling the bigotry and discrimination based on religious affiliation and national origin that is also the basis for Islamophobia against our Muslim and Palestinian brothers and sisters. The safety of these two communities is interlinked — at home and abroad. I will always call out hate, but I will also refuse to play into Republican games that politicize human suffering and fear.”

On March 19, Kamlager-Dove,  went on MSNBC and reflected on Senator Chuck Schumer’s criticism of the Israeli government. She stood by him, telling the news channel, “Chuck Schumer said the quiet part out loud. He said there are four obstacles to peace: Hamas, Abbas, Israel’s right wing government coalition, and Netanyahu. Here we have an Israeli Government negotiating right now for the release of hostages and Netanyahu is saying ‘that’s unrealistic,’ he’s saying he’s going to invade Rafah, and he says he’s totally opposed to a two-state-solution. [Netanyahu] is a peace antagonist.”

Kamlager-Dove is up for reelection in the 37^th district on November 5.

After publication, we heard back from Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove, who released this statement:

“While I recognize that ‘From the River to the Sea’ is, understandably, viewed as a hurtful phrase by many in the Jewish community, I voted no on this resolution because House Republicans didn’t bring it to the Floor to actually address or condemn antisemitism,” Kamlager-Dove told The Journal. “Speaker Johnson brought this Republican-introduced resolution to the House Floor to exploit Iran’s attack on Israel to advance the GOP’s long-standing goal of equating antisemitism with criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian self-determination, thus restricting space around legitimate policy discussions. Weaponizing the real concerns of the Jewish community to advance a partisan political agenda is cynical and exploitative, and I will not allow my constituents to become pawns in House Republicans’ political games.”

She continued, “‘From the River to the Sea’ has a complex history and has been used by malign actors from the PLO and Hamas to Prime Minister Netanyahu and far-right Israeli ministers. When said in the context of denying self-determination to Jews or Palestinians, advocating for the dismantling of the state of Israel, or calling for the displacement or elimination of any people, it is wrong and must be forcefully condemned. While it is regrettable that many advocating for an independent, democratic Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security employ this phrase without understanding the context, condemning these individuals as inherently antisemitic—as this resolution does—is wrong and only sows greater division between communities.”

Update from Sam Markstein, RJC national political director on April 18:

“Let’s be clear: calling for the elimination of the Jewish state “’from the River to the Sea’ is antisemitic. It is a call to deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination through removal from their ancestral homeland. The 44 lawmakers who voted against the legislation should be ashamed, as should House Democratic leadership who refuse to hold these Members of Congress accountable.”