The UN human rights office expressed concern on Friday over what it described as increasing attacks on independent UN experts, following criticism from several European governments of Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for “Palestine".
A host of countries this week called for Albanese’s removal following her recent remarks calling Israel the "common enemy of humanity." On Thursday, World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder joined the list of those who have called for Albanese’s removal.
The calls for her removal follow remarks delivered at the Al Jazeera conference, in which Albanese had said: “The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support ... We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy."
Albanese later claimed in an interview with France24 that she "never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity,'" calling the accusations "completely false accusations."
"We are very worried. We are concerned that UN officials, independent experts, and judicial officials are increasingly subjected to personal attacks, threats, and misinformation that distracts from the serious human rights issues," said Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office, during a press briefing on Friday, as quoted by Reuters.
Albanese’s history of anti-Israel statements and actions is well-documented and dates back to social media posts uncovered in 2022, in which she claimed that the “Jewish lobby" controls the US.
At the time, Albanese rejected arguments that the comments about the “Jewish lobby" were antisemitic and claimed they were “mischaracterized", but her anti-Israel bias has continued to be exposed since.
Her criticism of Israel has grown since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. The attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, was described by Albanese as an act that must be viewed in “context" and as a response to Israeli “aggression."
She has also in recent months accused Israel of genocide, likened the Government of Israel to the “Third Reich," and compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Albanese was recently sanctioned by the administration of US President Donald Trump after she wrote letters to American companies accusing them of contributing to gross human rights violations in Gaza and Judea and Samaria.
Albanese’s term as special rapporteur expires in 2028. While there is no precedent for removing a special rapporteur during their term, diplomats noted that member states could theoretically propose such a motion. However, it is unlikely that such a motion would succeed.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)