US license plate dispute drags the meaning of ‘from the river to the sea’ into court

A driver in California sued the state’s department of motor vehicles this week for revoking her license plate, which read “RVRTSEA,” a reference to the anti-Zionist protest slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

State authorities had ruled that the slogan could refer to genocide or risk inciting violence, while the plaintiff, Iasmine Abdennabi, said the phrase indicated “support for equal civil and political rights” in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“From the river to the sea” is a common anti-Zionist protest slogan. The phrase’s advocates claim it is a call for equal rights between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, covering all of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Critics, including many Jewish groups, say the phrase is a call for the violent elimination of Israel as a Jewish state.

The Arabic version of the slogan, also common at US anti-Zionist protests, translates to, “From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab.” The Hamas terror group has used the phrase.

Abdennabi filed the civil case against the head of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Steve Gordon, in the federal US District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights.

Federal court rulings can be significant because they can set precedents for other cases, depending on outcomes.

Abdennabi requested the “RVRTSEA” license plate in December 2023, two months after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, as a “political expression” about the conflict. She did not intend to threaten Jews or call for genocide or violence, the complaint said.

In California, drivers may request license plates with personalized statements, but state regulations bar “fighting words” such as references to genocide or incitement to violence.

The department issued Abdennabi the plate in May 2024, but revoked it in October 2025 and demanded that Abdennabi return the plate.

At least two drivers had seen the license plate while driving and filed complaints with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“This advocates for the extermination of the State of Israel and all Jewish people. It supports terrorism and encourages violence,” one of the complainants said.

Abdennabi appealed the revocation to a state tribunal, the California Office of Administrative Hearings, where a judge affirmed the plate’s cancellation, saying the slogan could refer to genocide or violence and was “offensive to good taste and decency.”

The decision noted that Abdennabi could “express the same sentiment” with a bumper sticker.

The lawsuit filed this week sought to overturn the state-level decision.

Abdennabi claimed in the federal lawsuit that the plate’s revocation caused “irreparable injury to her First Amendment rights” because the “RVRTSEA” slogan is “protected political expression.”

The case also argued that interpreting the slogan as violent was “speculative” and that those who object to the phrase were harming protected expression via a “heckler’s veto.”