Terrorists Who Cite Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese knowingly supports Hamas and other terrorist groups. In November 2022, Albanese participated in an official conference of Hamas, a designated terrorist group in the U.S., Canada, European Union, Australia and other countries. Speaking by video, she told the assembled terrorists, “You have a right to resist this occupation.” She added: “Israel says ‘resistance equals terrorism,’ but an occupation requires violence and generates violence.”

Albanese participated in the Hamas conference together with Ghazi Hamad, former Hamas Deputy Foreign Minister; Abd al-Latif al-Qanu, Hamas spokesperson; Ahmad al-Mudallal, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader; Khadr Habib, PIJ leader in Gaza; as well as Basem Naim and Isam al-Da’alis from Hamas. (November 2022).

Likewise, Albanese is well aware that her reports and statements are regularly used and relied upon by terrorist groups and their sponsors to justify terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews.

How terrorists rely on the work of Albanese is illustrated by the following quotes:

• Basem Naim, Member of Hamas Politburo: The Hamas website Seraj TV reported the following: “Dr. Basem Naim, Member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip, expressed his appreciation to Human Rights Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and her team for conveying the painful and harsh reality in the Palestinian territories with objectivity and professionalism, to remind the world once again of the Palestinian people’s cause and their ongoing tragedy for more than 75 years as a result of the Zionist occupation and its ongoing crimes.” Naim said: “Today we listened with great care to the report of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which she read before the Human Rights Council, in which she noted that the Israeli military occupation has turned the entire Palestinian territories into an ‘open prison.’” (Seraj TV, July 12, 2023)

• Jihad Taha, Hamas Spokesman: The Hamas website Seraj TV reported the following: “Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha praised the speech of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, before the Human Rights Council yesterday, in which she highlighted the crimes and violations of the Zionist occupation army against our people, which have turned the Palestinian territories into an open prison in which all forms of racism, discrimination and colonial settlement expansion are practiced.” Taha “renewed Hamas’s call to the international community and the United Nations to work to do justice to our people and our cause by condemning and boycotting the rogue Zionist entity.” (Seraj TV, July 11, 2023)
• Abdul Latif al-Qanou, Hamas Spokesman: The Telegram channel of Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV posted a graphic with the following quote attributed to Abdul Latif al-Qanou, Hamas Spokesman: “We commend the position of the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, in which she condemned the violations of the government of the gross occupation against our people.” (Al-Aqsa TV Telegram Channel, September 2, 2023)

• Ahmed Bahar, Former Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and Senior Hamas Leader: The Hamas website Seraj TV reported the following: “Acting Speaker of the Legislative Council, Ahmed Bahar, praised the position of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, before the Human Rights Council, which reviewed the crimes and violations of the Israeli occupation entity against our people. In a press statement, Bahar stressed that these violations monitored by the UN rapporteur support the advocacy of the Palestinian people’s representatives before the International Criminal Court, to confirm their position that the occupation is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestine in violation of all international laws, charters, and norms.” (Seraj TV, July 11, 2023)

• Hamas: Hamas-affiliated news website The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported the following: “Hamas said that the statements of the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, that there is sufficient evidence that the criminal Zionist occupation army committed genocide and ethnic cleansing against our Palestinian people, is an additional acknowledgement by a senior UN official. Hamas added… that this puts the international community and the United Nations before a real test to protect humanity, and to rise to their responsibilities to prevent the genocide that humanity has overtaken decades ago.” (The Palestinian Information Center, March 26, 2024)

• Hamas: An official press statement from Hamas published by the Resistance News Network on Telegram stated the following: “The scenes broadcasted by Al-Jazeera, documenting the heinous crime of Zionist occupation soldiers killing in cold blood two unarmed civilian youths raising white flags, and then bulldozing their bodies to hide their atrocious crime, are further evidence of the fascism and criminality that govern Zionist behavior, in the context of the brutal genocide war on our people in Gaza Strip, which was addressed yesterday by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Ms. Francesca Albanese.” (Resistance News Network Telegram Channel, March 27, 2024)

• The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): An official press statement from the PFLP published by the Resistance News Network on Telegram stated the following: “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine welcomed the report issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and her conclusion that ‘Israel’ committed acts of genocide in the [Gaza] Strip, and the existence of a premeditated intent from it to destroy the life of the Palestinian people and starve them, and to commit practices of apartheid… The Front called for taking all necessary measures to stop the Zionist genocide war on the Gaza Strip, based on the UN Special Rapporteur’s demands, to refer these proven legal evidences issued by the Rapporteur to the International Criminal Court, and to prosecute the occupation leaders and those who provided protection for them as war criminals before these courts.” (Resistance News Network Telegram Channel, March 27, 2024)

• Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency: In an article titled “Palestinians have right to resist oppression: UN rapporteur,” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Albanese said, “Palestinians - like it or not - have the right to resist oppression,” and that she was among a group of UN human rights experts that warning that “Israel risks becoming an international ‘pariah’ over its ‘genocide’ in Gaza, suggesting that the regime’s UN membership could be called into question.” (Islamic Republic News Agency, September 17, 2024)

• Iran’s Al-Alam: Iranian state-owned news network Al-Alam reported the following: “Francesca Albanese stressed that measures must be taken to prevent the massacre in Gaza… She added: ‘The international community can stop the massacre in Gaza if the countries that have business relations with Israel cut off this relationship to put pressure on Israel.’ The UN Human Rights Rapporteur admitted that ‘Israel’ never respects international law and has been allowed to violate it since 1967 and that ‘Israel’ is still carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.” (Al-Alam, February 7, 2024)

• Iran’s Al-Alam: Iranian state-owned media company Al-Alam ran a news update stating: “UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese: The Israeli occupation is illegal and must be dismantled and Palestinian sovereignty restored.” (Al-Alam, September 10, 2024)

• Hezbollah’s Al-Manar: Hezbollah TV channel Al-Manar ran a story stating: “The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, said that a large part of the population of the besieged Gaza Strip is being subjected to genocide, as thousands have been killed and injured as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment since the start of Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa. ‘What is happening is that a large part of the Palestinian population in Gaza is being wiped out, not in a different way than before, but with increasing ferocity,’ Albanese added.” (Al-Manar, October 13, 2023)

• Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News: Saudi-based Asharq News ran a story with the headline: “UN rapporteur: Israel is an occupying power and has no right to self-defense in Gaza” (Asharq News, November 3, 2023)

• Iran’s DEFA Press: Iran’s Holy Defense News Agency (DEFA Press) reported the following: “Francesca Albanese, the United Nations human rights rapporteur on Palestinian affairs, who prepared a report on the genocide of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people and presented it to the Human Rights Council, has announced that since the beginning of her mission to investigate the crimes of Israel In the Gaza Strip, she has been repeatedly attacked and threatened.” (DEFA Press, July 30, 2024)

• Shafaqna International Shia News Agency: The international Shia news agency Shafaqna reported the following: “The UN Human Rights Rapporteur in the Palestinian Territory announced that Gaza’s agricultural lands and infrastructure were destroyed and genocides were launched in Gaza… The UN Human Rights Rapporteur in the Palestinian territories noted that we cannot ignore Israel’s plan to destroy the Palestinians.” (Shafaqna, March 26, 2024)

• Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV: The Telegram channel of Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV posted the following: “UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese: ‘The Palestinians in Gaza are heroes, and we should all be ashamed of the sacrifice imposed on them by the culture of impunity that has permeated the multilateral system, ultimately enabling Israel to commit genocide.’” (Al-Aqsa TV Telegram Channel, July 11, 2024)

• Hamas’s Shehab News Agency: The Telegram channel of Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency posted the following: “UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanese: A Palestinian state already exists, and Israel is practicing apartheid against Palestinians and growing more brutal and sadistic towards its victims every day.” (Shehab News Agency Telegram Channel, July 22, 2024)

• Hamas’s Shehab News Agency: The Telegram channel of Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency posted the following: “UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese: Israel cannot claim self-defense in this conflict, and the deliberate killing of Palestinians continues and has reached a shameful stage.” (Shehab News Agency Telegram Channel, August 7, 2022)

• IRGC’s Tasnim News Agency: This outlet tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported the following: “According to this report, the systematic and extensive destruction of houses and service centers and civilian infrastructure in Gaza are war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide. Francesca Albanese, the UN rapporteur in the occupied Palestinian territories, documented all of them and sent them to the Human Rights Council.” (Tasnim News Agency, April 16, 2024)

• Iran’s Donya-e-Eqtesad: This Iranian newspaper reported the following: “Yesterday, Francesca Albanese, the UN rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, announced that the Palestinian community is facing a collective genocide. Albanese said: ‘There are double standards in Europe regarding the Palestinian issue. We must confront Israel’s actions against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.’ The UN rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories emphasized that the Zionist regime has killed more than 14,500 Palestinian children in Gaza since the start of the attack on Gaza on October 7 last year. Albanese also stated that since the beginning of the war against Gaza, the Zionist regime has martyred 250 Palestinians daily. The UN rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories said: ‘Israel has committed at least 3 crimes of genocide in Gaza.’” (Donya-e-Eqtesad, April 17, 2024)

• The Palestinian Information Center (PIC): This Hamas-affiliated news website reported the following: “The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in one school after another in Gaza, and that ‘Israel annihilates the Palestinians in Gaza with American and European weapons, amidst the indifference of all civilized nations.’” (The Palestinian Information Center, August 10, 2024)

As documented above, through her UN reports, Francesca Albanese knowingly provides material support for Hamas and other terrorist groups.