Temple University Board Denounces Hill’s ‘Free Palestine’ Speech

The Temple University Board of Trustees released a statement on Thursday denouncing Marc Lamont Hill’s Nov. 28 United Nations speech.

The speech featured the Temple professor calling for “a Free Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

Temple’s board noted in their statement that the aforementioned quote “has been used by anti-Israel terror groups and widely perceived as language that threatens the existence of the state of Israel.”

“Professor Hill was not speaking on behalf or representing the university,” the statement read. “We recognize that Professor Hill’s comments are his own, that his speech as a private individual is entitled to the same Constitutional protection as any other citizen, and that he has through subsequent statements expressly rejected anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic violence.”

However, the board still expressed “their disappointment, displeasure, and disagreement with Professor Hill’s comments, and reaffirm in the strongest possible terms the [university] President’s condemnation of all anti-Semitic, racist or incendiary language, hate speech, calls to violence, or the disparagement of any person or persons based on religion, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation or identity.”

Hill’s comments received widespread criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), telling the Journal that Hill’s remarks were “divisive and destructive.” CNN fired Hill from his position as a contributor to the network as a result of the comments.

Hill has since apologized.