Mask-Off Moment: Palestinian Journo Calls African American Hakeem Jeffries an 'AIPAC Monkey'
A Palestinian journalist called House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a “monkey” recently while insisting there was no racist connotation to her remarks.
As Democrats face a rift between the rabidly pro-Palestinian left and the party’s center, which historically supported Israel, Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal denounced Jeffries on Wajahat Ali’s “The Left Hook” podcast, according to the New York Post.
“His name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider,” Jebreal said, according to video posted to X.
“He is a bought and paid by AIPAC monkey,” she said, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“With all due respect — and I don’t mean it in a racist way,” she added.
“He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired,” Jebreal said.
Hoping to head off the kind of anger that would be a tidal wave if a Republican used the word “monkey” in connection with a black man, Ali noted that the word has “terrible racial connotations… but I think you caught yourself and said you didn’t mean it with any racial animosity.”
Jebreal tried to take the off ramp and said, “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 was not impressed.
“To be clear, there isn’t a non-racist way to call Leader Jeffries — a Black man — a ‘monkey’ or ‘errand boy,’” the caucus posted on X.
“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,” the post continued, tagging Ali.
“We have to stop platforming and trafficking in anti-Black racism, whether it’s on the political right or the left,” the caucus posted.
Others noted the lack of outrage for the remarks.
“CNN would have this as breaking news for weeks if a Republican said that,” a commenter wrote on X.
Jebreal later tried to appease critics 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.”
Israeli writer and speaker Hen Mazzig chimed in as well.
“You should be disabling your account and hiding forever for this horrific statement which you didn’t think twice about, and said on camera. Unfortunately the anti-Israel mob doesn’t care about racism when it comes with anti-Jewish hatred, so they’ll whitewash it for you,” the post said.
As noted by JFeed, Gaza is not a hospitable environment for blacks.
“Black Palestinians, many descended from African pilgrims and migrants, face entrenched racism in Gaza. In Gaza City, they are concentrated in a neighborhood tellingly called al-Abeed, Arabic for ‘the slaves,’” the site reported.
“Discrimination extends far beyond names. Black Palestinians are frequently denied leadership positions, excluded from certain professions, and pressured to marry within their own community. Generational prejudice has kept them marginalized, limiting opportunities and reinforcing social barriers,” the site noted.
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