A Jewish American journalist named Katie Halper has been fired by The Hill for calling Israel as an ‘apartheid state’.
In a flagrant disregard for free speech, the Hill, the corporate-owned US media outlet, has sacked Jewish American journalist Katie Halper because she criticized Israel and described it as an apartheid regime.
The 41-year-old Halper, who was known for her podcast, Rising, had first drafted a monologue in reaction to the recent attacks on Rashida Tlaib. In the monologue for “Rising,” Halper, who was the program’s co-host, argued that the backlash against Tlaib was “outrageous” and criticized Israel’s unjust laws and brutalization of Palestinians, accusing Israel of committing the crime of apartheid.
“I’m not a Jewish colleague of Tlaib, but I am a Jew and I am outraged. Not by Tlaib, but by the attacks on Tlaib. Rashida Tlaib is saying that Israel is an apartheid state and that people who claim to have progressive values cannot support an apartheid state. No matter how loose a definition of progressive we use, it certainly excludes supporting a racist apartheid system,” Halper said in the video.
Tlaib was attacked by colleagues and journalists for saying that it is no longer possible to remain progressive and continue to be a supporter of the state of Israel. “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,” said the Michigan lawmaker during an online event last week on Thursday.
Halper was initially blocked from making the comments in support of Rashida Tlaib, but was later fired from her job as she spoke publicly about the censorship.
In the monologue, Halper also mentioned the definition of apartheid provided by the UN’s International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid in Article II, which describes apartheid as “the inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”
Other journalists became Halper’s voice
After Halper’s video went viral, it was showered with lots of comments. Many congratulated Helper on her bravery in telling the truth about the cruelties of Israel against the people of Palestine.
Many activists and journalists also expressed solidarity with Halper. This was enough for the Hill to dismiss its journalist for good. In support for Halper, for example, Maximillian Alvare, a guest contributor at Halper’s show, announced his resignation through a tweet.
“After 3 years as a regular guest contributor, I have notified the Hill that I will not be going on Rising anymore. I stand in solidarity with Katie Halper & our oppressed Palestinian siblings, & I stand resolutely against the top-down decision to censor/fire Katie for telling the truth,” read the tweet.
In addition, journalist Chuck Modi from Washington DC said in a tweet that Katie Halper’s coverage is “most basic “water-is- wet” reporting. “Her firing, like Marc Lamont Hill at CNN, is latest message to journos that if you want to keep your job, you must keep lying. Appreciate Katie putting facts & justice above all.”
Famous actress Susan Sarandon also showed consolidation with Halper by re-tweeting the video, writing in a tweet that “this is What Got Katie Halper Censored & Canceled By The Hill: Israel Is An Apartheid State.”
