FOI 313984

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 313984

I write in connection with your request for information of 24 February 2024.  Please find below the response to your request:

1) What is your force's policy with regards to the phrase "From the river to the sea"?

2) Where your force's policy is that this statement is not always unlawful, under which circumstances could it be unlawful?

3) Where your force's policy is that this statement is not always unlawful, under which circumstances could it be lawful?

4) If there is no formal policy: please instead share any instructions, emails, or other documentation that may have been shared with officers with regards to what action should be taken when this statement is used by members of the public.

Reply

For questions 1-3, West Mercia Police does not hold any information.

For question 4:

West Mercia Police holds the following information, which was shared with police officers in November 2023 as part of the national policing response to events in Israel, Gaza and the Middle East:

Slogans: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”
- A slogan from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Note that the PLO are not a proscribed organisation.
- One interpretation is that it is a call to arms to wipe Israel from the map.
- It is certainly capable of being an element of a racially aggravated offence under 2.5 POA 1986, but is not automatically an offence (and not an offence under s.12 TA 2000).
- Context: Where? When? Numbers? What else is happening?