The Green Party of New Jersey today expressed its support for Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a CNN newscaster fired by CNN for supporting equal rights for Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza and throughout Israel proper. Marc Hill’s statements were made at the U.N., where he was asked to speak on the occasion of the International Day of Support for the Palestinian people.

“GPNJ calls for CNN to reinstate Marc Lamont Hill to its staff immediately,” said Madelyn Hoffman, former NJ Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate. “Letting this firing stand would have a chilling effect throughout all media and would give the pro-Israel lobby far too much power in determining the direction of U.S. current affairs. We support the demands of the Palestinian Youth Movement, Existence is Resistance and Within Our Lifetime calling for the reinstatement of Marc Lamont Hill at a rally taking place today in front of CNN headquarters in NYC. #IStandWithMLH”

“ This action is a blatant and biased attack on the freedom of the press,” said Carrie Gordon, chair of GPNJ’s communications committee. “Calling for equal rights and justice for the Palestinians is as important as calling for equal rights and justice for all who live in the U.S. and around the world. Other commentators on CNN have made much more defamatory comments — claiming that the Palestinian people don’t exist or that same sex marriage is akin to terrorism – and their contracts were not terminated.”

“American society has seen its fair share of injustice as standard practice and, in some cases, as law,” said Wassim Kanaan, Director of Government Relations for the American Muslims for Palestine-New Jersey chapter. “The firing of Dr. Hill is eerily reminiscent of darkers moments in U.S. history where free speech in support of justice was shunned and oppression prevailed. We must tread carefully and halt the current norms/policies that alienate and punish advocates of justice for the Palestinian people. Here, we are faced with deciding whether or not we will stand on the correct side of history.”

In this time of intense criticism of the media, CNN showed one of the many reasons why this criticism is justified. Calling for justice for the Palestinian people today is akin to the demands of the civil rights movement in the U.S. throughout U.S. history. These are discussions which must be held, not ended because one side in the debate has a vested interest in silencing it.

Ironically,  much of the media world rallied to the defense of CNN reporter Jim Acosta when the Trump administration took away his press pass. Media outlets as varied ideologically as FOX News and the New York Times understood the impact of such a move on the 1st amendment’s freedom of the press. But where are those voices in support of Marc Lamont Hill?