By Romana Rubeo 
Former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi Di Sant’Agata sent a letter to the current Italian FM Antonio Tajani urging him to take a stance against United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Thursday.
The letter was reportedly sent after two pro-Israeli NGOs approached the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, expressing their “utter dismay and outrage at the abhorrent statements made by Ms. Francesca Albanese (…) in the wake of the wave of terror perpetrated against civilians in Israel (…), and call for her immediate dismissal.”
The reference is to recent comments published by Albanese on Twitter, in which she advocated for the Palestinian right to self-determination, stating that “Israel has a right to defend itself, but can’t claim it when it comes to the people it oppresses/whose lands it colonizes.”
The two groups, the International Legal Forum and the Italian-based Solomon Observatory on Discrimination, are known for opposing pro-Palestinian activism, by slamming any criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
“It is not surprising that such comments were made by Terzi Di Sant’Agata, a member of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party, which is considered by many analysts as a post-fascist movement,” Romana Rubeo, Managing Editor of The Palestine Chronicle Italia, said.
“It is also interesting that the news was reported with almost the exact same text (in two different languages) by the Italian ‘liberal’ newspaper La Repubblica and the rightwing Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post. This speaks volumes about the possible coordination in the release of the specific story”, Rubeo added.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
