In the latest crackdown on free speech when Palestine is the topic, The Hill first censored and then fired the Jewish American journalist Katie Halper from its morning broadcast ‘Rising’ for calling ‘Israel’ an apartheid state.
The 41-year-old co-host for The Hill TV’s political commentary show, Rising, had drafted a monologue in response to the vicious attacks on Rashida Tlaib for labeling Israeli’s policies as “apartheid,” and for calling out the moral contradiction among people claiming to be progressive except when it comes to Palestine.
Tlaib was attacked by her fellowes for declaring “I want you all to know that among progressives, it becomes clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values yet back Israel’s apartheid government,” during an online event.
Pro-Israel lobby groups criticized Tlaib’s remark as anti-Semitic, and Halper wanted to push back against the criticism so she delivered a video monologue of her podcast examining Tlaib’s remark.
Halper was first censored from making the comments in support of the Democrat member of the US Congress but was later dismissed from her job.
“Rising is—or is supposed to be—a show where hosts and guests from both the right and the left can say the things that are verboten on other corporate media outlets,” said Halper
Helper’s monologue defined apartheid according to international law and included quotations from human rights organizations such as B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International which described Israel as an apartheid regime.
This crackdown on free speech was not the first since the topic is Palestine. Western democracy is being destroyed to protect the Israeli occupation and whitewash its crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
These blatant attacks on supporters of Palestine have been seen before in a concerted effort to silence Israeli occupation critics once.
CNN fired Marc Lamont Hill as a contributor after he called for “a free Palestine from the river to the sea” during a speech at the UN.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute revoked Angela Davis’s award for supporting the BDS movement.
Political scientist and son of Holocaust survivors Norman Finkelstein, whose tenure was denied and his reputation was tarnished by DePaul University over his criticism of Israel.
Yale University’s Department of HistoryYale University’s Department of History rejected Historian Juan Cole for criticizing Israel.
Guardian dismissed Journalist Nathan Robinson as a columnist after joking about U.S. aid to Israel.
The University of Georgia banned Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin from speaking at the University for refusing to sign a pledge to forbid her participation in the BDS movement.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign fired the Scholar Steven Salaita over “disrespectful” tweets he published from his personal Twitter account criticizing Israel’s aggression on Gaza Strip in 2014.
Meanwhile, some politicians and countless journalists and supporters courageously tweeted, mailed, left comments expressing support and solidarity, emailed The Hill to complain, and unsubscribed from The Hill TV’s channel including Rashida Tlaib, Roger Waters, Miko Peled, and Susan Sarandon.
Journalists have been called the guardians of the truth, and @kthalps just showed us all what that looks like. You don't have to agree with me or Katie, but this censorship should trouble us all. https://t.co/CVB1FdpGm1
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 30, 2022
Respect to Katy Halper and Rashida Tlaib. To tell the truth should be the minimum standard for any journalist, in The USA it’s a hanging offense. Israel is an APARTHEID state. https://t.co/nhpvmhsWkJ
— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) September 30, 2022
Watch the video that got @kthalps fired from @thehill for speaking the truth. All the experts agree: Israel is an apartheid state. More and more people realize this, including young Jews like Katie. What the Hill did is both wrong and out of touch:https://t.co/JRsidrh4Rm
— Miko Peled (@mikopeled) October 3, 2022
This is What Got Katie Halper Censored & Canceled By The Hill: Israel Is An Apartheid State – YouTube https://t.co/81wp0FXdvM
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) September 30, 2022
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