[MEDIAite] CNN severed ties with contributor Marc Lamont Hill on Thursday, following comments the university professor made about Israel and Palestine in a speech at the United Nations.
"Marc Lamont Hill is no longer under contract with CNN," a CNN spokesperson told Mediaite.
Hill urged countries to boycott Israel in a speech on Wednesday, calling for a "free Palestine from the river to the sea." His comments sparked an immediate backlash, with many noting "from the river to the sea" is a phrase used by Hamas and other anti-Israel terror groups. The phrase implies the replacement of Israel by a Palestine stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea ‐ though Hill disputes this characterization of his comments.
"We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grass-roots 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," Hill said in his speech.
His comments were condemned as anti-Semitic by the National Council of Young Israel and Anti-Defamation League.