One week after she was condemned by France and the U.S. for spreading antisemitism, UN official Francesca Albanese should be sanctioned and barred entry to the U.S., said the human rights group UN Watch on Tuesday, days before her planned visit to the country to address the General Assembly’s 193-nation human rights committee, and to speak at multiple college campuses including Georgetown and Princeton.
In a 60-page report released today, “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” the Geneva-based non-governmental organization UN Watch documents how Albanese, the UN Human Rights Council’s monitor tasked with investigating “Israel’s violations” in the Palestinian territories, routinely portrays Israelis as Nazis, complains that America is “subjugated by the Jewish Lobby,” and denies the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023.
In November 2022, Albanese told a Hamas conference, “You have a right to resist.” On October 7th, as the massacre was underway, she rushed to defend Hamas, saying, “Today’s violence must be put in context.”
Earlier this year, Albanese elicited international condemnation when she denied that the October 7th pogrom targeted Jews, and when she instead accused Israel of having provoked the massacre.
France said her comments were “scandalous” and “a disgrace.” Germany said it was “appalling” for the Special Rapporteur “to justify the horrific terror attacks and to “deny their antisemitic nature.” Germany also called Albanese’s remarks “a disgrace.”
Albanese has also been condemned by German, Canadian and U.S. lawmakers. Last week she was denounced for antisemitism by the leading Jewish organizations in the U.S., including by the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations,
This summer, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, stated that Albanese “is not fit for this or any position at the UN,” and that “there is no place for antisemitism from UN-affiliated officials tasked with promoting human rights.” Last week, France called for Albanese to face “consequences.”
In 2022, Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. Special Envoy on Antisemitism, stated that Albanese’s “blatant antisemitic rhetoric” was “an established pattern” that “severely undermines” her credibility as UN human rights official.
“Never before in the history of the United Nations did France, Germany and the U.S. condemn a UN human rights monitor for racism or antisemitism,” said Hillel C. Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “Francesca Albanese is the first. She is today the most dangerous figure on the world stage inciting antisemitism and jihadi terrorism.”
College Tour in U.S. & Canada
Albanese is set to speak in front of the United Nations in the U.S. on October 30. A college tour will take her to multiple U.S. campuses including Georgetown University on October 26, Princeton on October 29, and Toronto on November 7. UN Watch warns of “the possibility that Albanese will incite terrorism and antisemitism on campuses.”
Call for Secretary Blinken to Sanction Albanese, Bar Entry
UN Watch today called on the United Nations to terminate Albanese’s position and for the U.S. and Canada to bar her entry. It also calls on Britain and European Union member states to speak out against Albanese and join the resolution to remove her from the UN.
The watchdog argues that Albanese’s position as “special rapporteur” on Palestine was “created by the Arab states as a political weapon to target Israel.” Under the mandate created in 1993 by the UN Human Rights Council, the position focuses only on what it calls “Israel’s violations.” Actions by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and other actors are never even examined.
Albanese has repeatedly called to “unseat” Israel from the UN, a measure that even the UN monitors on Iran, Russia and North Korea have never advocated.
“United Nations Watch is calling on all UN member states to take action immediately and terminate the mandate of Francesca Albanese,” the memo reads. “The U.S. should bar Francesca Albanese from entering the United States on account of her propagation of antisemitism and support for Hamas terrorism, which amounts to a national security threat. The U.S. should also impose additional targeted sanctions on Albanese, including freezing her bank accounts, and waiving her diplomatic immunity so that families of terror victims can sue her for damages in U.S. Courts.”
“Albanese is not subtle, she spouts textbook antisemitism,” Neuer said. “This is someone who is totally out of control. And America needs to take the lead in holding to her account. That is why we are today calling on President Biden and Secretary Blinken to impose sanctions on Albanese and bar her entry to the country. An internationally condemned antisemite, who is deeply entangled with a designated terrorist organization, should not be welcome anywhere in America.”
Pro-Hamas Groups Sponsored Albanese’s 20,000 Trip to Australia
The report calls on the UN to release all documents and receipts from Albanese’s alleged $20,000 lobbying trip to Australia in November. She is already under investigation for allegations that pro-Hamas groups funded the junket. The main group that sponsored Albanese’s visit yesterday eulogized Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
In addition, the controversial UN official has admitted that her lead researcher, Sara Troian, is funded by “private donations,” but has refused to disclose her expenses or payments illegally received by her office, nor the identity of the donors. “Is Qatar funding Albanese’s work? Is it Hamas? Until the UN and Albanese release the documents, there’s no way to know,” said Neuer.
Conflicts of Interest Exposed: Albanese’s Husband, and Her Employer
In her filings to the UN, Albanese denied any conflicts of interest. “This was a lie,” said Neuer. “What she omitted to mention was that her husband, Massimiliano Calì, previously worked for the Palestinian Authority, where he authored a report on Israel’s ‘exploitative’ policies. Despite his obligation to stay neutral as an official of the World Bank, Cali has for over a decade co-authored social media posts together with Albanese that compared Israelis to Nazis. In his rabidly antisemitic posts, Cali often seems even more obsessed with demonizing the Jewish state than Albanese.”
Albanese has an even greater conflict of interest, said Neuer. Under the auspices of her full-time employment at the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), “Albanese has a paid job to lobby against Israel, for which she founded and runs a global influence network of more than 100 individuals and NGOs to target Israel by orchestrating lawfare campaigns, whitewashing Hamas terrorism, and cynically manipulating governments into funding UNRWA,” said Neuer.
“You can’t be an impartial UN monitor about Israel while holding a paid position to lobby against Israel,” he added. “This is a blatant conflict of interest, and we are calling on UN chief Antonio Guterres to intervene,” said Neuer.
UN Watch urged all countries to adopt a UN Watch draft resolution to terminate Francesca Albanese’s mandate immediately.
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing - Report on Francesca Albanese
