Trump administration accuses UN Palestinian rights envoy of ‘virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism’
Pro-Israel groups have regularly accused Francesca Albanese, the U.N. rapporteur on Palestinian rights, of anti-Israel and even antisemitic bias
Francesca Albanese speaks at a U.N. forum in New York, May 18, 2018. (Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
(JTA) — The Trump administration has called on the United Nations to remove Francesca Albanese, the U.N. rapporteur on Palestinian rights, alleging “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism,” according to a letter obtained by The Washington Free Beacon.
The letter, dated June 20 and addressed to U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres, also alleges that Albanese claims to be an “international lawyer” but is not licensed to practice law.
Albanese, an Italian national, regularly accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza and has said that the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas must be put in a” context of decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians.”
The administration’s warning comes on the heels of a new report by Albanese titled “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide.”
In the report, Albanese recommends corporate entities “cease all business activities” linked with “human rights violations and international crimes against the Palestinian people,” and also calls on them to pay reparations to the Palestinian people.
“It shows how corporations have fueled and legitimised the destruction of Palestine. Genocide, it would seem, is profitable. This cannot continue, accountability must follow,” wrote Albanese in a post on X announcing the report Monday.
In the administration’’s letter, acting U.S. representative to the U.N. Dorothy Shea accused Albanese of waging “an unacceptable campaign of political and economic warfare against the American and worldwide economy.”
The World Jewish Congress also condemned Albanese’s new report, accusing her of promoting a “deeply biased narrative.”
“Ms. Albanese’s report is yet another example of her repeated misuse of her mandate to advance a political agenda rather than to uphold the universal principles of human rights,” said the WJC’s Executive Vice President Maram Stern in a statement.
Pro-Israel groups like U.N. Watch and NGO Monitor have regularly accused Albanese of anti-Israel and even antisemitic bias. In 2022, Albanese caught fire from top U.S. and Israeli diplomats who called out comments she made in 2014 in which she suggested that Europe was under the sway of the “Jewish lobby” and “guilt about the Holocaust.”
In February 2024, Albanese also received furious backlash when she said that victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel “were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. under President Biden, posted on X at the time that Albanese is “unfit for her role. The United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights.”
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