During a speech at the United Nations on Wednesday, author and activist Marc Lamont Hill spoke out about the treatment of Palestinians in Israel. The comments have received backlash and he has been fired from CNN.
Hill said, “We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grassroots 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 also said, “Contrary to western mythology, Black resistance to American apartheid did not come purely through Ghandi and nonviolence, rather slave revolts and self-defense and tactics otherwise divergent from Dr. King or Mahatma Gandhi were equally important to preserving safety and attaining freedom. If we are to operate in true solidarity with the Palestinian people, we must allow the Palestinian people the same range of opportunity and political possibility.”
Hill continued, “If we are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we must recognize the right of an occupied people to defend itself. We must prioritize peace, but we must not romanticize or fetishize it. We must advocate and promote nonviolence at every opportunity, but we cannot endorse a narrow politics of respectability that shames Palestinians for resisting, for refusing to do nothing in the face of state violence and ethnic cleansing.”
Some felt like Hill was calling for violence and were offended by the term “from the river to the sea.” Newsweek reports, “‘From the river to the sea’ is a phrase often used by groups, including Hamas, who wish to remove Israel and replace the country with a Palestinian state that would stretch from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
Hill was challenged with this on Twitter. He responded by Tweeting, “.River to the sea’ is a phrase that precedes Hamas by more than 50 years. It also has a variety of meanings. In my remarks, which you clearly didn’t hear, I was talking about full citizenship rights IN Israel and a redrawing of the pre-1967 borders.”
Nonetheless, Hill has been fired from CNN.
There were mixed reactions to Marc Lamont Hill’s comments and him being fired, see below:
1.
Marc Hill is correct. Palestinians deserve freedom as much as Israeli do! Period. Who ever is arguing for the country is the problem!
— Cheikh T. Thiam (@CheikhTThiam) November 29, 2018
2.
Marc Hill should take a history course before doing anymore reports . Israel was there looooong before there was even any Palestine.
— Buggsy (@GeorgeHarrold3) November 29, 2018
3.
Ok CNN but keep bringing on Alan Dershowitz who was paid $120K by anti-Muslim extremist group that literally publishes fake news and perpetuates hate and bigotry. Marc's firing is completely baseless and unwarranted. https://t.co/yS0GjNZX6S
— Rowaida Abdelaziz (@Rowaida_Abdel) November 29, 2018
4.
What a disgraceful day for journalism. @CNN & @FoxNews r in agreement over equating Palestinian human rights with Jewish bigotry. Ur regressing our collective fight 4 freedom & punishing @marclamonthill 4 speaking on behalf of majority of world outside US https://t.co/FCaolyqo4V
— Noura Erakat (@4noura) November 29, 2018
5.
Outraged to hear that @CNN fired Marc Lamont Hill for advocating for Palestinian rights in a speech to the UN. Calling for Palestinians to have equal rights in their ancestral lands is NOT racism or anti-Semitism. Shame on Israel’s speech suppression lobbyists and shame on CNN! https://t.co/bFCGte2lJ7
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) November 29, 2018
6.
CNN fired Marc Lamont Hill, but giving shows and airtime to alt-right figures on a regular basis is OK apparently.
— Torraine Walker (@TorraineWalker) November 29, 2018
7.
Rick Santorum said climate change is a hoax and scientists are bought off by big government grant money on @CNN like last week and he still has a job. Marc Lamont Hill mildly criticizes Israel and he's fired immediately.
— Secular Talk🎙 (@KyleKulinski) November 29, 2018
8.
I guess I don't understand why ppl on the Left who aren't eliminationist anti-Semites could possibly be okay w/Marc Lamont Hill calling for the destruction of Israel using Palestinian dog-whistle language when they harp on 'dog whistles' from the Right all the time but that's me.
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) November 29, 2018
9.
CNN fired its only good commentator, Marc Lamont Hill, because he criticized Israel's violations of international law and called for "a single secular democratic state for everyone"
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 29, 2018
Opposing apartheid and supporting secular democracy is a fireable offense https://t.co/nX1hv4PDF5
10.
This is KEY: how can CNN fire @marclamonthill while keeping onboard @RickSantorum whose views of Palestinians are literally genocidal? Unless the news network's position is that the Palestinians have no rights and no humanity? And only Israel lives and perspectives matter? https://t.co/DUC9v9r1i6
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 29, 2018