Marc Lamont Hill Dumped By CNN For ‘River To Sea’ Barb Against Israel

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By Dave Goldiner November 30, 2018

Commentator Marc Lamont Hill has been dumped by CNN for anti=Israel comments calling for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.”

Hill’s remarks were quickly condemned by the Anti-Defamation League Thursday, which said the slogan calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

But Hill, a professor at Temple University, insisted he meant no such thing when he made the comments at a United Nations event to commemorate solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

“I support Palestinian freedom. I support Palestinian self-determination. I am deeply critical of Israeli policy and practice,” he said on Twitter.

“I do not support anti-Semitism, killing Jewish people, or any of the other things attributed to my speech,” Hill added. “I have spent my life fighting these things.”

“From the river to the sea” is often used by pro-Palestinian groups to call for a Palestinian state where Israel now exists between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

However, Hill and others claim that the slogan simply refers to Palestinian statehood, not the destruction of Israel. They point out that the world considers the West Bank, which borders the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean as occupied Palestinian lands.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Marc Lamont Hill’s first name.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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