CNN Fires Commentator For Calling For Palestine ‘From River To Sea’
Marc Lamont Hill Image by Getty Images
CNN fired political commentator Marc Lamont Hill on Thursday, the day after he said at the United Nations that there needs to be “a free Palestine from the river to the sea,” which was interpreted as meaning the need for the end of Israel, Mediaite reported.
“Marc Lamont Hill is no longer under contract with CNN,” a CNN spokesperson told Mediaite.
In his speech, Hill called on countries to boycott Israel.
“We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grass-roots action, local action and international action that will give us what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea,” he said.
That phrase is used by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, and implies the removal of Israel so the state of Palestine can span from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Hill, who is also a professor at Temple University, denied that that was his intention.
“I support Palestinian freedom. I support Palestinian self-determination. I am deeply critical of Israeli policy and practice,” he tweeted. “I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people, or any of the other things attributed to my speech. I have spent my life fighting these things.”
I support Palestinian freedom. I support Palestinian self-determination. I am deeply critical of Israeli policy and practice.
I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people, or any of the other things attributed to my speech. I have spent my life fighting these things.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) November 29, 2018
In an email to the Jewish Journal, the Anti-Defamation League called Hill’s comment divisive” and “destructive.” The Zionist Organization of America had also called for his firing from CNN and Temple.
The ZOA previously called for his firing after it emerged last month that a photo of Hill smiling with the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was used to promote Farrakhan’s album.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
