Francesca Albanese, appointed in May 2022 as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories has been sanctioned by the US.
Imagine, if you will, the reaction if she were the UN special rapporteur on global terrorism and she were to say:
‘Osama Bin Laden was murdered and those that committed the act are aggressors.’
‘The Brussels terror attack must be put in context.’
You would, rightly, call into question such biased and inflammatory language, maybe you would even call for her to be sanctioned.
But Albanese did label the targeted Israeli assassinations of terrorist leaders, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr, as “murders” and “acts of aggression.”
And she did, on October 7 – the very day that Hamas targeted Israel’s civilian populations massacring of over 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 – state that, “Today’s violence must be put in context.”
Whatever one may think of the Trump administration, or the current state of American politics in general, the old adage that even a broken clock is right twice a day stands true on their decision to sanction Albanese.
Special Rapporteurs are bound by their Code of Conduct to, “…ensure that their personal political opinions are without prejudice to the execution of their mission, and base their conclusions and recommendations on objective assessments of human rights situations.” Special Rapporteurs must also, “In implementing their mandate, therefore, show restraint, moderation and discretion so as not to undermine the recognition of the independent nature of their mandate or the environment necessary to properly discharge the said mandate.”
It is possible, thanks to independent scrutinising bodies like the highly respected UN Watch, to write a book of all her statements, tweets and pronouncements that represent not only a clear breach of the UN code of conduct, but also of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Here is just a brief selection:
Albanese likened the systematic extermination of Jews under the Nazi’s “pure race” policy to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. She compares the Jewish State’s war against Hamas, to the “Third Reich” who perpetrated the Holocaust.
Albanese trivialised the Holocaust, reposting an image comparing Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, with the comment: “This is precisely what I was thinking today.”
Albanese claimed “genocidal intent” in the Israeli rescue efforts to free four hostages kidnapped from Israel into Gaza by Hamas terrorists.
In response to French President Emmanuel Macron referring to the October 7 massacre as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century,” Albanese tweeted: “The greatest antisemitic massacre of our century? No, @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression.”
We must pause and remind ourselves that these are not the ramblings of a racist, antisemitic boor or pub drunk, but of a UN special Rapporteur. This is an important position, with the corresponding duties and responsibilities that such a high profile role carries with it.
Since the sanctioning was announced, the UN has asked for support for Albanese. They have been met with the political equivalent of tumbleweed rolling through a far west town. In fact, the only voices to date that have stood in her defence are vociferously anti-Israel NGO’s and Al Jazeera.
The two illustrative statements we opened with are designed to provoke an uncomfortable response because they hit home to us here in Europe, who remember 9/11 as our Kennedy assassination moment, just as much to the millions of Jews worldwide who remember October 7th as the biggest and most violent and sadistic pogrom since the Holocaust.
We are dealing every day with hate online, with hate in public discourse, with hate on our streets and in our colleges.
We do not need a UN special Rapporteur adding to it.
Instead, we need a Special Rapporteur who can acknowledge that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist entities and who is not so blinkered that all and every ill in the highly complex Israel-Palestinian conflict can be laid only at one door, Israel’s.
We need a Special Rapporteur that upholds everybody’s human rights – Jewish and Palestinian – not one who regards the Jewish people’s right to their ancestral homeland as a ‘colonial’ enterprise, who trivialises the Holocaust and whose sole mission on waking up appears to be vilifying and ostracising Israel.
If you were offended by the two illustrative statements at the opening, if you were offended by her comments about the Holocaust and Hitler comparisons, by her branding those who rescued hostages of genocidal intent, then the US decision to impose sanctions makes sense.
UN Rapporteurs cannot and do not live in ivory towers. They are not beyond reproach. Especially openly antisemitic ones. It is our shared democratic duty to hold them to account. Doing so does not undermine the role of UN Special Rapporteur. On the contrary, it upholds and defends the important office and function of the role.
