Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal faced sharp criticism from Black lawmakers Friday after calling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) an “AIPAC monkey.”
Jebreal made the remark during an appearance on progressive commentator Wajahat Ali’s podcast, “The Left Hook,” while attacking Jeffries over his support for Israel and accusing the New York Democrat of serving the interests of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC.
“His name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider,” Jebreal said angrily.
“He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey,” she continued. “With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way.”
Jebreal went on to describe Jeffries as “basically an errand boy,” adding, “and we’re done and tired.”
Following the outburst, Ali stepped in and acknowledged that the word “monkey” carries “terrible racial connotations,” while adding, “but I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity.”
Jebreal then tried to explain her choice of words, saying, “There are these three monkeys – one, I cannot hear, I cannot see, I cannot speak – it reminds me of these three monkeys.”
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) dismissed Jebreal’s explanation.
“To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries—a Black man—a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,’” the group posted on X.
The caucus also slammed Ali, a critic of Israel, writing, “this is what happens when we hold ourselves to such low standards for what’s allowable in our discourse — people get comfortable being openly bigoted.”
“We have to stop platforming and trafficking in anti-Black racism, whether it’s on the political right or the left,” the CBC added.
Rep, Ritchie Torres (D-NY) similarly argued in an X post that “calling a Black man a ‘monkey’ is racist. Full stop.”
“If Wajahat Ali and Rula Jebreal were on the far right, no one on the far left would have any trouble condemning them for dehumanizing a Black man in racist terms,” the black congressman added. “The silence is deafening.”
Jebreal later issued a backhanded apology on X.
“I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffries is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” she wrote. “That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used.
“I apologize unconditionally.”
Jeffries’ office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
