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Francesca Albanese: A UN Rapporteur Without Principles

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

When Holocaust denier Gilad Atzmon wrote a book about the evils of Jewishness, it was wellreceived by the white supremacist community.

For the book’s main promotional blurb, however the author turned to a more credentialed — and less expected — source.

From the front of the book’s dust jacket, the United Nations “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967” announced that Atzmon’s antisemitic screed was a must-read.

The rapporteur, Richard Falk, also praised Atzmon’s “unflinching integrity” — just as Atzmon has lauded Holocaust denier David Irving’s integrity, or how David Irving in turn has gushed over the “great man” Adolf Hitler.

Falk’s endorsement appeared in 2011, the same year he published a cartoon of a bloodthirsty dog wearing a kippah (Jewish head covering), and the same year that he promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories. His UN mandate has since expired. But the same process that put one extremist in the role elevated another in his place — because Francesca Albanese is the new Richard Falk.

Although Special Rapporteur Albanese may not have endorsed Gilad Atzmon’s book, she certainly doesn’t find such endorsements problematic. For example, she hosted, praised, and promoted an event at which Falk was a speaker. Worse, it was an event that purported to teach what is, and what is not, antisemitic. Worse yet, Falk was there as an expert, not an exhibit.

And if one might forgive Albanese for boosting other Holocaust deniers on Twitter, her own words about Jews and their nefarious power can’t be brushed aside. Her slur that the US is “subjugated by the Jewish lobby,” for example, would fit seamlessly in Atzmon’s book.

Such a worldview is concerning on its own. But for someone whose mandate is to pass judgement on the world’s one Jewish-majority country, it should be disqualifying.

Unfortunately, Albanese will keep passing her judgements with the United Nations’ imprimatur. After all, contrary to the idyllic views of the organization that still, somehow, persist, this is the UN in which Richard Falk was able to serve out his full term.

It is the UN whose Human Rights Council — the body that appoints rapporteurs — currently includes Cuba, China, Qatar, Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi, Algeria, Somalia, Vietnam, and other such “paragons” of human rights.

So we can expect more of the same. And what is the same? Albanese often reaches for the bluntest tools in the chest — her endless charges of “apartheid” and “genocide.”

To punctuate the latter, she also dabbles in Holocaust inversion — casting Jews as the new Nazis, a slur understood to minimize the crimes of the latter while spitting in the face of the former.

In July, for example, Albanese endorsed a social media post that compared Israel’s prime minister to Adolf Hitler. Not long before that, while promoting a video by an activist who argues that Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter is cause to “celebrate,” she again used the Holocaust as a prop to compare analogize the Jewish State with the murderers of Jews.

But in a world where young people are increasingly clueless about what the Holocaust was, it may be more useful to look at Albanese’s more precise affronts, especially (but not limited to) her comments related to the massacre of October 7.

Equivocating About What Happened on Oct 7

Albanese fanned the flames of conspiracism during an interview in which she was asked about the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. After flatly saying Hamas targeted civilians in the attack, the UN rapporteur immediately checked herself, gesturing defensively while backtracking:

The problem is that they targeted civilians. They– uh– as n– I mean, as far as what we hear in the media is true, because this is the thing, I mean, this is– it’s very difficult to also understand, to have clarity, on what has happened. But let’s assume that what they say in the media is true.

Her flirtation with denialism wasn’t the morning of the attacks, when some uncertainty might have been forgivable. It was in December. There was no doubt at the time about “what happened.”

Unequivocal in Spreading Ahli Hospital Misinformation

By contrast, long after it was understood that a misfired Palestinian rocket likely caused the Oct. 17 blast in the parking lot of Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital, Albanese pushed the claim that Israel was responsible.

The day after the incident, and after President Joe Biden, independent analysts, and Israeli officials had already pointed the finger at a Palestinian rocket (see, for example, early assessments herehereherehereherehere, and here), Albanese described the incident as an “atrocity crime” and retweeted the false claim that it was an “Israeli airstrike.”

She and other rapporteurs continued to misrepresent the incident on Oct. 19.

Subsequent reports by the United StatesUnited KingdomFranceItaly, the Associated PressCNN, Wall Street Journal, other news organizations, and even anti-Israel NGOs, corroborated the early reports of Palestinian responsibility.

Double Standards to Defend Hamas Rapists

Shortly after the Oct. 7 massacre, Albanese and a fellow rapporteur insisted that accounts of Palestinian rape against Israelis should not be spread, protesting that “unverified” information would only “escalate tensions.”

Apparently this criteria uniquely applies to sexual violence against Israelis, because a few months later — on the very day a Palestinian claim of rape was disproven and withdrawn — the rapporteurs did the very thing they had decried, and spread unverified claims about the rape of Palestinians. (And, as noted above, the rapporteurs felt free to escalate tensions by rushing to peddle false claims about the al-Ahli hospital.)

Misinformation to Defend Oct 7th Attackers

According to Albanese, Israel lied when charging that some UN employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack. These are “fallacious allegations,” she said.

But it was she who trafficked in misinformation. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services eventually investigated, reviewed Israel’s evidence, and conceded that nine UNRWA employees may have indeed been involved in the attacks. The number reported by the IDF and other analysts is far higher.

Denying Hamas’s Antisemitism, Deflecting from Its Responsibility

Albanese has argued that the Oct. 7 slaughter by Hamas, a transparently antisemitic organization, wasn’t related to antisemitism, but rather was Israel’s fault.

After French president Emmanuel Macron presided over a ceremony in memory of French-Israelis murdered during the Hamas massacre, the rapporteur reacted with outrage.

“The ‘worst anti-Semitic massacre of our century’?” she asked, quoting the French president’s characterization of the Hamas attack. “No, Mr. Emmanuel Macron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression.”

This is a two-part exoneration. She first acquits Hamas of antisemitism, and then more fully unburdens them of responsibility.

It should go without saying that blame for the murder, rape, and kidnapping of civilians rests squarely with the murderers who carefully planned their attack. But what about the question of antisemitism?

The group Albanese exculpates is the same group that, in its 1988 founding covenant, declares that their “struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.”

The document later reiterates: “Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Muslim people.” For the next three decades, Hamas unabashedly reemphasized this core philosophy.

And though the group has more recently gone through the motions of rebranding itself, its leaders have made clear that they remain motivated by Jew-hatred.

In 2019, for example, Hamas Parliamentarian Marwan Abu Ras, using the same logic as Albanese, insisted Hitler’s hatred of Jews should be viewed as a response to Jewish “deeds and crimes.” (Ras at least didn’t blame Hitler’s genocide on Jews, but only because in his view the Holocaust was “lie.”)

In 2018, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar charged Jews with corrupting and betraying the societies in which they lived throughout history. That same year, Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV broadcast the charge that the Jews are “human garbage” who are behind every world conspiracy. (See these and many more examples translated by MEMRI here.)

Hamas’s antisemitic worldview naturally extends to the boots on the ground on Oct. 7. Just ask the man who murdered ten Jews, then elatedly called home to brag about it: “Look how many I killed with my own hands!” he told his father. “Your son killed Jews!”

Or ask Bedouin Muslim Farhan al-Qadi, a rescued hostage who shared that his attackers demanded he “Take us in your car to wherever we can find Jews.” (He heroically refused, and was abused for it, al-Qadi explained.)

Misrepresenting Casualty Claims

Albanese claims that The Lancet counted 186,000 direct and indirect deaths in the Gaza war. It did not.

First, the figure was not peer-reviewed research. It appeared in the magazine’s correspondence section. (That this section isn’t peer reviewed is one of the kinder things that could be said about it.)

Second, the letter itself makes clear that the figure comes from a primitive and rather arbitrary formula — the writers simply multiplied Hamas’ casualty figure by four — and that it hardly represents a finding of fact. It is “not implausible” for one to “estimate” that “up to” 186,000 or more deaths “could be” attributable to the conflict, the authors say. No wonder one of the authors later reemphasized that the figure is “purely illustrative.”

We need not get into the many additional serious problems with the letter. With or without them, Albanese, who ridiculously treats the figure as fact, spreads misinformation.

Misinformation on Hostage Rescue

After Israel found and extracted four of the many hostages held by Hamas, the UN rapporteur bizarrely referred to the hostages as having been “released” rather than rescued; she relayed discredited allegations that “foreign soldiers” took part in the fighting during the hostage rescue; and she endorsed questionable claims that the soldiers were hidden in an “aid truck.”

Most absurdly, she insisted that the military operation, which had an obvious and narrow military goal — to rescue hostages –somehow proves “genocidal intent,” or in other words, was aimed at no less than destroying the Palestinian people.

Casting Murdered Israeli Civilians as Soldiers

Albanese’s disinformation extends beyond the October 7 attack. She recently erased the crimes of Nasser Abu Hamid, a senior terrorist convicted in the murder of six Israeli civilians and a police officer, by falsely describing him as having been sentenced for “alleged involvement in attacks against Israeli forces.”

Civilians, of course, are not Israeli “forces,” nor are convictions “allegations.”

Erasing and Fabricating a Ceasefire Violation 

After the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired barrages of rockets on Israeli towns on May 2, 2023, and Israel a week later struck the group’s leaders, Albanese took to Twitter to defend the terrorists, bizarrely insisting it was Israel that “violated” a year-old ceasefire. (While calling Israel’s response a possible war crime, Albanese responded to the indiscriminate Islamic Jihad rockets, which are unequivocal war crimes, with social-media silence.)

Inflating Palestinian Casualties, Erasing Israeli casualties

One day after reporters uncovered Albanese’s antisemitic charge that Jews “subjugate” America, and her suggestion that Palestinian rocket attacks on civilians — again, unequivocal  war crimes — are legitimate acts of defense, the rapporteur went into deflection mode.

People should instead be appalled by the “215 Palestinians … who were killed in the occupied Palestinian territory this year,” she insisted in a Dec 15, 2022 statement, adding that “six Israeli soldiers and settlers were also killed.”

Putting aside that large numbers (according to Israel a majority) of the Palestinian casualties that year were attackers, killed during gun battles, or terror leaders, the UN rapporteur seems intent on downplaying the number of Israelis killed while inflating Palestinian casualty figures.

While Albanese referred to six “soldiers and settlers” killed, 31 people in Israel and the West Bank were killed in terror attacks that year, according to numbers from the Israeli Security Agency cited by the Times of Israel just before Albanese’s statement. (Even if the rapporteur were to plead that her mandate is the West Bank and not Israel, nineteen of those fatalities were killed by attackers from the West Bank, according to UN figures cited by The Washington Post. Nine of the dead were killed inside the West Bank. Also contrary to her claim, not all of the victims killed inside the West Bank were soldiers or from settlements.)

No Self-Defense to Hamas Massacres

Although Albanese had previously characterized indiscriminate and illegal Palestinian rocket attacks as self-defense — in her words, acts of Palestinians “who defend themselves with the only means they have” — she insists that Israel has no right to self-defense following Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter.

Doctoring Quotes

In June 2023, Albanese circulated a doctored quote while boosting an extremist propaganda network.

The Quds News Network misquoted a radical Israeli politician as calling for the killing of “Palestinians,” and Albanese cited the quote as an example of genocidal rhetoric. But the actual quote referred specifically to the killing of “terrorists,” not “Palestinians.”

Gilead Ini is a Senior Research Analyst at CAMERA, the foremost media watchdog organization focused on coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The post Francesca Albanese: A UN Rapporteur Without Principles first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities

Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.

The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.

Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.

Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.

With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.

According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.

“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.

Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.

Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.

The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.

Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.

The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.

The post Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Key US Lawmaker Warns Ireland of Potential Economic Consequences for ‘Antisemitic Path’ Against Israel

US Sen. James Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Washington, DC, May 21, 2024. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch (R-ID) issued a sharp warning Tuesday, accusing Ireland of embracing antisemitism and threatening potential economic consequences if the Irish government proceeds with new legislation targeting Israeli trade.

“Ireland, while often a valuable U.S. partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,” Risch wrote in a post on X. “If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to blatant antisemitism.”

Marking a striking escalation in rhetoric from a senior US lawmaker, Risch’s comments came amid growing tensions between Ireland and Israel, which have intensified dramatically since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Those attacks, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, prompted a months-long Israeli military campaign in Gaza that has drawn widespread international scrutiny. Ireland has positioned itself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s response, accusing the Israeli government of disproportionate use of force and calling for immediate humanitarian relief and accountability for the elevated number of Palestinian civilian casualties.

Dublin’s stance has included tangible policy shifts. In May 2024, Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state, becoming one of the first European Union members to do so following the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The move was condemned by Israeli officials, who recalled their ambassador to Ireland and accused the Irish government of legitimizing terrorism. Since then, Irish lawmakers have proposed further measures, including legislation aimed at restricting imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, policies viewed in Israel and among many American lawmakers as aligning with the controversial Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

While Irish leaders have defended their approach as grounded in international law and human rights, critics in Washington, including Risch, have portrayed it as part of a broader pattern of hostility toward Israel. Some US lawmakers have begun raising the possibility of reevaluating trade and diplomatic ties with Ireland in response.

Risch’s warning is one of the clearest indications yet that Ireland’s policies toward Israel could carry economic consequences. The United States is one of Ireland’s largest trading partners, and American companies such as Apple, Google, Meta and Pfizer maintain substantial operations in the country, drawn by Ireland’s favorable tax regime and access to the EU market.

Though the Trump administration has not echoed Risch’s warning, the remarks reflect growing unease in Washington about the trajectory of Ireland’s foreign policy. The State Department has maintained a careful balancing act, expressing strong support for Israel’s security while calling for increased humanitarian access in Gaza. Officials have stopped short of condemning Ireland’s actions directly but have expressed concern about efforts they see as isolating Israel on the international stage.

Ireland’s stance is emblematic of a growing international divide over the war. While the US continues to provide military and diplomatic backing to Israel, many European countries have called for an immediate ceasefire and investigations into alleged war crimes.

Irish public opinion has long leaned pro-Palestinian, and Irish lawmakers have repeatedly voiced concern over the scale of destruction in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation.

Irish officials have not yet responded to The Algemeiner’s request for comment.

The post Key US Lawmaker Warns Ireland of Potential Economic Consequences for ‘Antisemitic Path’ Against Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Condemns Iran’s Suspension of IAEA Cooperation, Urges Europe to Reinstate UN Sanctions

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Christian Mang/File Photo

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Wednesday condemned Iran’s decision to halt cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog and called on the international community to reinstate sanctions to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Saar wrote in a post on X. “This is a complete renunciation of all its international nuclear obligations and commitments.”

Last week, the Iranian parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA “until the safety and security of [the country’s] nuclear activities can be guaranteed.”

“The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X.

The top Iranian diplomat said this latest decision was “a direct result of [IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi’s] regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency — a full decade ago — already closed all past issues.

“Through this malign action,” Araghchi continued, “he directly facilitated the adoption of a politically-motivated resolution against Iran by the IAEA [Board of Governors] as well as the unlawful Israeli and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites.”

On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian approved a bill banning UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country until the Supreme National Security Council decides that there is no longer a threat to the safety of its nuclear sites.

In response, Saar urged European countries that were part of the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal to activate its “snapback” clause and reinstate all UN sanctions lifted under the agreement.

Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), this accord between Iran and several world powers imposed temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

During his first term, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and reinstated unilateral sanctions on Iran.

“The time to activate the Snapback mechanism is now! I call upon the E3 countries — Germany, France and the UK to reinstate all sanctions against Iran!” Saar wrote in a post on X.

“The international community must act decisively now and utilize all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions,” he continued.

Saar’s latest remarks come after Araghchi met last week in Geneva with his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas — their first meeting since the Iran-Israel war began.

Europe is actively urging Iran to reengage in talks with the White House to prevent further escalation of tensions, but has yet to address the issue of reinstating sanctions.

Speaking during an official visit to Latvia on Tuesday, Saar said that “Operation Rising Lion” — Israel’s sweeping military campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities — has “revealed the full extent of the Iranian regime’s threat to Israel, Europe, and the global order.”

“Iran deliberately targeted civilian population centers with its ballistic missiles,” Saar said at a press conference. “The same missile threat can reach Europe, including Latvia and the Baltic states.”

“Israel’s actions against the head of the snake in Iran contributed directly to the safety of Europe,” the Israeli top diplomat continued, adding that Israeli strikes have set back the Iranian nuclear program by many years.

The post Israel Condemns Iran’s Suspension of IAEA Cooperation, Urges Europe to Reinstate UN Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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