When college students who sympathize with Palestinians chant “From the river to the sea,” do they know what they’re talking about? I hired a survey firm to poll 250 students from a variety of backgrounds across the U.S. Most said they supported the chant, some enthusiastically so (32.8%) and others to a lesser extent (53.2%).
But only 47% of the students who embrace the slogan were able to name the river and the sea. Some of the alternative answers were the Nile and the Euphrates, the Caribbean, the Dead Sea (which is a lake) and the Atlantic…
In all, after learning a handful of basic facts about the Middle East, 67.8% of students went from supporting “from the river to sea” to rejecting the mantra. These students had never seen a map of the Mideast and knew little about the region’s geography, history or demography.
Geographic ignorance is widespread and long standing. I was taking one of the filler “general ed” classes that Whatsa Matta U required everyone to take. A question on a test was “you are in India, facing Pakistan. What country is on your right?” Many in the class didn’t even understand the question, let alone know the answer. It was hilarious how frustrated the prof became trying to explain it.
I think early 70’s was when Bangladesh happened but if the test was before that and you were facing East Pakistan then the nation on your right was Ceylon(Sri Lanka) - There are even places you could be standing and facing Pakistan (East) and the country would be Myanmar. I’m still very unsure of the status of the areas of Jammu and Kishmar; does India still claim jurisdiction - in which case Tajikistan might be the proper answer.
I wonder how many nations have similar geographic phrases. I’ve heard both Palestinian and Israeli extremists say “from the river to the sea”. America the Beautiful says “from sea to shining sea”. Any others?
The India-Pakistan border is convoluted enough that you can probably find a point in India where Pakistan is any direction you like. I pick a place in Gujarat where Pakistan is to the south-east.
Then, you need to pick a map projection to define the line to “your right”. I’ll pick a great circle. It looks like there is a point in Gujarat where the great circle “to your right” threads between Madagascar and Mozambique, rounds the Cape of Good Hope, and hits Argentina
The blue in the Venezuelan (Colombian and Ecuadorian) flag represents the Atlantic Ocean separating it from Spain. The flag was designed by Francisco de Miranda, a hero of the independence, the only American whose name is engraved on the Triumphal Arch in Paris, and who was reputedly one of Catherine the Great’s many lovers.
