Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal faced sharp criticism from Black lawmakers on Friday after describing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as an “AIPAC monkey.”
The remark came during Jebreal’s appearance on left-wing commentator Wajahat Ali’s podcast, “The Left Hook,” where she condemned Jeffries’ support for Israel and accused the Black Democratic leader 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 during the discussion.
She then escalated her criticism, saying, “He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey,” before adding, “With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way.”
Jebreal also called Jeffries “an errand boy,” saying critics of his stance on Israel were “done and tired.”
After Jabreal’s rant, Ali interjected to note that using the term “monkey” has “terrible racial connotations … but I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity.”
Jabreal attempted to clarify: “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) rejected Jebreal’s defense.
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“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.