American rapper Azealia Banks has declared herself “a Zionist” and stated that “no black person should be supporting Palestine,” in an alcohol-fuelled diatribe on social media.
Banks, best known for her song 212 and with a track record of engaging in heated social media disputes, shared her views on the Israel-Palestine conflict and how black people are treated in the Middle East in a succession of expletive-laced posts, which she dubbed an “espresso martini rant”.
In one post Banks affirmed that she is a Zionist and, responding to a tweet asking if she supports a two-state solution, stated: “No. It should all be Israel. Palestine cannot support itself without help from other countries so the people should just leave or become naturalised Israelis.”
She added: “Palestine is not a country. The area is called JUDEA for a reason.”
The current Palestinian territories are made up of Gaza and West Bank, with the Judea region forming part of the latter. The Israeli government refers to the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, as Judea and Samaria.
The singer, 34, pointed to the historic treatment of black people in Arab countries, particularly through the slave trade, as part of the reason she supports Israel: “Ur [sic.] not going to get some performative ‘free Palestine’ s*** out of me when Palestine and the entire Arab world has it enshrined in scripture... that black people are to be used as slave labour,” Banks wrote, though she did not provide evidence to support this claim.
“The Israel-Palestine dilemma is just a way for non-Jewish whites to throw a chip at Jews,” she went on. “Because if you *really* gave a f*** and *REALLY* examined the situation you would see that there are black people who have been silenced and had their limbs chopped off and thrown in cages for Arabs to have actually colonised the Middle East.”
Again, she did not provide evidence to back up these claims.
Banks added that black Palestinians should be granted asylum in Israel, but “ONLY the black Palestinians… Everyone else can wait.”
The singer also opined on the “inbreeding” that she perceives as particularly rife in Arab and Jewish populations, stating without evidence: “The Jews and the Muslims have the highest percentages of inbreeding the world over. This is why JESUS IS KING and America is the Christian Pearl.”
It is not the first time Banks has made headlines for her thoughts on Israel or the Jewish people. In 2018 she claimed on X that she had experienced widespread racism whilst visiting Tel Aviv for a gig and vowed to “never ever ever ever ever go to Israel again.”
In 2021 Banks posted an announcement about her since-ended engagement to Jewish artist Ryder Ripps with the caption “I’m Jewish now. MAZEL TOV B******!” and a photo of a chunky gold ring embossed with a menorah, eliciting a mixed response from members of the Jewish community. In one such exchange Banks, who has never officially converted to Judaism, likened her religious identity to the gender identity of transgender people in what many decried as transphobic comments.
Banks has since referred to herself on social media as “the Jewcy Diva” and marketed jewelry bearing the phrase.
