PBS NewsHour reported that Arabs celebrated El-Sayed’s use of a term of affection in his victory speech, a moment its headline captured with the words “JD, habibi.” The celebration centered on one word from the speech, and the headline presents the reaction as a celebration by Arabs generally.
PBS NewsHour noted that habibi literally means a beloved one and appears often in Arab pop songs. In everyday speech, the report said, the word frequently serves as a casual term for a friend, similar to buddy, pal, or bro. That everyday use differs from the word’s literal sense.
PBS NewsHour also reported that supporters of El-Sayed have worn shirts with a slogan built on the word, pairing it with the name Abdul. The summary of the report does not say how many people wore the shirts or how widely they circulated.
The summary does not identify the person addressed in the phrase or the location of the speech, and it does not describe any response beyond the celebration it mentions. No additional detail on the content of the speech appears in the material available. The article was written by Sarah El Deeb of the Associated Press and carried by PBS NewsHour, which framed the story around the reaction to a single word in the speech.