CNN fires Marc Lamont Hill for saying ‘Palestinians deserve equal rights’

The US broadcaster CNN fired its regular contributor Marc Lamont Hill. The move came after Hill made passionate pro-Palestinian comments at the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on Wednesday.

A spokesperson of CNN confirmed firing of Hill, a professor of media studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. "Marc Lamont Hill is no longer under contract with CNN,” said the spokesperson.

Hill’s calling for “equal rights” for Palestinian people from the river to sea was seen as controversial by CNN.

Hill made a statement that he supports Palestinians freedom and self-determination, criticising Israeli policy and practices via his personal Twitter account. “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” he added.

CNN did not give any concrete reason for severing ties with professor Hill but its move came after some blaming of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and some groups.

The ADL is criticized by the Jewish Voice for Peace(JVP) for being an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian organisation. 

According to the Jewish Voice for Peace, the ADL places interests of Israeli government before the international human rights. 

“This includes their support, contrary to international law, for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; blaming unarmed peaceful protesters in Gaza for their deaths at the hands of the Israeli army; and actively supporting legislation that impinges on the constitutional right to boycott” added the JVP, in its statement.

The ADL claims Hill’s speech of “a free Palestine from the river to the sea” is a calling for an end to the State of Israel.

Hill tweeted: “My reference to “river to the sea” was not a call to destroy anything or anyone. It was a call for justice, both in Israel and in the West Bank/Gaza. The speech very clearly and specifically said those things. No amount of debate will change what I actually said or what I meant” against the ADL’s blames on him.

Hill tweeted the need to return to the pre-1967 borders and to give full rights to Palestinians, such as being allowed to return their homelands.

Hill also emphasized his universal position to support full rights for all people. 

Hill also said: “ Unfortunately, we are in a moment where any critique of the Israeli government is called anti-Semitic. Any call for Palestinian freedom is seen as an attempt to diminish Israel freedom. This does not have to be, nor should it be, the case” on Twitter.