Palestinian journalist and professor Rula Jebreal apologized on Friday after she referred to the top Democrat in the House, who is Black, as an “AIPAC monkey.”
Jebreal, who is also a foreign affairs analyst, was a guest on progressive podcaster Wajahat Ali’s “The Left Hook” when she used the slur to describe House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y while referring to his support of Israel and ties to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
“By the way, his name is Hakeem. ‘Hakeem’ is an Arabic name which means ‘healer.’ He’s not a healer, he’s a divider,” Jebreal told Ali.
“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.”
“He is just basically an errand boy, and we’re done and tired,” Jebreal said.
AIPAC has become a major issue in internal Democratic Party politics, with progressives criticizing Democrats who receive money from the interest group while moderates like Jeffries have embraced the organization.
Liberal Democrats, like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, and democratic socialists, such as Florida’s Angie Dixon, have won midterm primaries this cycle amid growing discontent with the Israeli government among Democrats.
MORE BY HOWARD KOPLOWITZ
Jebreal apologized for her remarks on Friday.
“I am disgusted and horrified that Hakeem Jeffery [sic] is taking money from AIPAC amidst Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” she posted to X. “That said, a term that I used to describe him was inappropriate and offensive and should never have been used. I apologize unconditionally.”
Read the original article on oregonlive.com. Add oregonlive.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.