Francesca Albanese Undermines the UN’s Credibility
Who is the spokesperson for the UN’s anti-Israel bias?
Since its inception, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been synonymous with upholding human rights and freedom worldwide. The credibility of the United Nations’ human rights mission now hangs by a thread, thanks to Francesca Albanese’s tenure as Special Rapporteur. Ms. Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (the term that the UN uses to refer to Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and East Jerusalem) in 2022. Since her controversial appointment, her actions and words have undermined the principles of human rights and given legitimacy to extremist viewpoints.
The Role of the Special Rapporteur
Those who aren’t engaged in online discussion about the Israel-Hamas war may not be familiar with Ms. Albanese or her role as Special Rapporteur. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur’s role is to “assess” and “report” on the vague term referred to as “Israeli violations of human rights” within the OPT. Staying true to her role as a human rights advocate, demonizing Israel and excusing terrorism is not uncommon in the office of Francesca Albanese.
In her three year stint as Special Rapporteur, she has done everything from casting doubt over Hamas atrocities and condemning Israeli hostage rescue operations to justifying modern-day blood libel. The question is, who is Francesca Albanese, and more importantly, why does a person who time and time again has shown extreme bias still have a position as a UN Special Rapporteur?
A History of Controversy
It’s important to note that Ms. Albanese’s antisemitic and anti-Israel bias didn’t begin with her appointment in 2022. In 2014, Ms. Albanese used her social media to blame perceived American inaction in Gaza on the US being “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.” This reference to the unfounded conspiracy theory that Jews exercise undue control of the world, was branded as “antisemitic” by the US ambassador to the Human Rights Committee. Even so, it wasn’t enough to disqualify her from consideration for the role of Special Rapporteur, and is just one of many social media posts uncovered that denigrate Jews and Israel. For example, a recent post on X from Ms. Albanese’s official account scolds a follower for attributing cannibalism to all Jews, instead of just Israelis. This outrageous reply drew accusations of blood libel from many who saw parallels between her words and medievial accusations of Jewish ritual child sacrifice and cannibalism.
An archive of Ms. Albanese’s X account shows how she utilizes Holocaust inversion in order to condemn Israeli actions. According to the World Jewish Congress, Holocaust inversion is an antisemitic tactic which seeks to portray modern day Jews and/or Israel as “modern day Nazis”, and seeks to equate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the Holocaust. Although this would be laughable to any even slightly informed person, Ms. Albanese’s social media accounts are filled with statements comparing Israel to the “Third Reich”, comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, among other examples of Holocaust inversion.
Ethical Concerns
In the spring of 2024, Ms. Albanese was contacted by a known parody account claiming to be, “Rabbi Linda,”, the self-proclaimed Chief Rabbi of Gaza, requesting her to speak for a group of students. As any expert on the “Occupied Territories” would know, Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, leaving the entire Gaza Strip free of Jews. Despite “Rabbi Linda” being an obvious parody account, Ms. Albanese swiftly agreed to deliver a speech to Columbia students on the subject of the “Morality of Intifada”, scheduled a date, and requested a Zoom link and payment details. (“Intifada” refers to two waves of mass terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians in the late 20th and early 21st centuries). When the hoax was exposed, her team claimed that she had declined the invitation, despite the emails published saying otherwise.
At once, three problems are evident. Firstly, the Special Rapporteur on the “Occupied Territories” has absolutely none of the historical knowledge necessary for the role. Surely, someone whose role is to investigate human rights in Gaza would know that no Jewish community remained after the Israeli disengagement of 2005. Secondly, potentially justifying and promoting the morality of “Intifada” is unacceptable for someone whose mission is to promote human rights. Thirdly, the disastrous attempt to cover up this scandal shows that no lessons have been learnt by the Special Rapporteur. In line with previous acts of unethical behavior by Ms. Albanese, this discreditable incident led to no action from UN officials.
When criticizing human rights in the “Occupied Territories”, Ms. Albanese often justifies Palestinian terrorism as a necessary and logical response to Israeli actions while simultaneously downplaying atrocities. Mere days after the October 7 massacres, she claimed that accounts of Hamas terrorists raping Israelis was unfounded, for which she received a mountain of backlash. Justification for terrorism is also part of her speech, for example, posting that the October 7 massacre was not an antisemitic attack, but rather a “response to Israel’s oppression”, replying to a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron condemning the violence which kicked off the latest Israel-Hamas war. Without delay, both Germany and France publicly condemned her for these comments, stating that her words were “scandalous”, as well as a “disgrace” to “everything the UN stands for”. It’s difficult to imagine how anyone could disagree.
A Call for Reform
A lack of necessary historical knowledge, an abundance of anti-Israel and antisemitic bias, and potential promotion of terrorism has systematically and intentionally been swept under the rug by the UN office which claims “promotion” and “protection” of human rights and freedoms as its central mission. By giving Francesca Albanese, a human rights lawyer with a far from perfect record an official title, the OHCHR lost the little credibility it had. The UN must immediately remove her from her position and institute stricter ethical standards on its appointees. By refusing, the OHCHR shows the world that its image takes precedence over human rights.