CNN Fires Commentator Who Called for a ‘Free Palestine from the River to the Sea’

CNN has fired Marc Lamont Hill from his position as a political commentator following his call for a “free Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

Mediaite first reported it on Thursday; the Journal has confirmed that this is the case, as a CNN spokesperson emailed the Journal, “Marc Lamont Hill is no longer under contract with CNN.”

On Wednesday, Hill said at the United Nations, “We must promote non violence at every opportunity, but cannot endorse narrow politics that shames Palestinians for resisting, for refusing to do nothing in ethnic cleansing.” He then added for his call for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

The CNN spokesperson did not respond to the Journal’s question regarding whether these comments prompted the firing.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Journal in an email, “CNN had to fire Hill.”

“He morphed from social commentator to a shill and propagandist for Palestinian terrorism and end of Jewish State,” Cooper said. “And he did it with a speech at the UN!”

Lawfare Project Executive Director Brooke Goldstein told the Journal in an emailed statement that CNN did “the right thing.”

“Marc Lamont Hill intentionally and very publicly called for the annihilation of the Jewish people and the destruction of their historic homeland,” Goldstein said. “There is no place for such bigotry in the 21st century especially in a major american news outlet.”

Goldstein added, “It is encouraging to see that CNN does not tolerate anti-Semitism. It is dumbfounding that Hill, who is in no position to claim credentials as an academic, still holds a position at Temple University.“

Hill is also a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University; a spokesperson from the university told the Journal in email that they will not be firing Hill.

“Marc Lamont Hill has been quoted extensively over the last 24 hours,” the spokesperson said. “Marc Lamont Hill does not represent Temple University and his views are his own. However, we acknowledge that he has a constitutionally protected right to express his opinion as a private citizen.”