CNN Commentator Urges Support for Palestinian Terrorist’s Crowdfunding Campaign

Hill has asked his followers to support a terrorist who planted a bomb near a Jerusalem hospital and wounded nine Israelis.

By: Barney Breen-Portnoy, The Algemeiner

A prominent CNN political commentator urged his Twitter followers on Tuesday to support the crowdfunding campaign of a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a bombing in Jerusalem nearly five decades ago.

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill — a professor of African-American Studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta who, in addition to his CNN role, hosts “BET News” and “VH1 Live!” — tweeted a link on Tuesday to the GoFundMe page of Ali Jiddah, a member of the Afro-Palestinian community in Jerusalem’s Old City who is seeking donations to cover medical debts he incurred over the years due to his refusal to pay into the Israeli insurance system.

In his appeal for help, Jiddah acknowledged serving 17 years in Israeli prison for “being active in the Palestinian national struggle” without mentioning the true reason for his incarceration — his planting of a bomb near a Jerusalem hospital in 1968 that wounded nine Israelis, an act described in the 2014 book Song of the Caged Bird: Words of Resistance in Palestine.

Jiddah, who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group, was freed in 1985 as part of the Jibril Agreement — in which Israel released 1,150 imprisoned terrorists in exchange for three Israeli soldiers who were captured during the First Lebanon War.

Hill is known for his anti-Israel views and backing of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In 2015, he tweeted, “I support BDS in Israel because it’s the best remaining option to end the longest occupation in modern history.”

CNN did not immediately respond to a request from The Algemeiner for comment.

Hill’s latest controversial tweet was first highlighted by pro-Israel blogger Elder of Ziyon.