The UN Human Rights Council has backed Francesca Albanese’s reappointment, resisting a coordinated campaign to remove her from her post.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to extend Francesca Albanese’s mandate as Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories for another three years, despite sustained pressure from pro-Israel governments and advocacy groups, including the United States.
The decision came on Friday, during the final session of the UNHRC’s 58th meeting in Geneva. Albanese will now continue in her role through 2028.
Her reappointment faced strong resistance from several Western states and lobbying organizations critical of her outspoken stance on Israeli policies. Albanese has repeatedly accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and genocide in her reports and public statements, drawing praise from human rights advocates and ire from Israeli officials and their allies.
One of the most vocal campaigns against her has been led by UN Watch, which released a 60-page dossier accusing her of promoting antisemitism and “terrorism” in her capacity as UN Special Rapporteur. The group also launched a petition urging the Council to block her renewal and demanded her immediate dismissal during a recent session.
Other groups—including the World Jewish Congress and the Zionist youth organization Betar—have also taken aim at Albanese. Betar allegedly issued threats against her during a recent visit to London, invoking Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon in 2023.
UK Labour MP David Taylor added to the chorus, accusing Albanese of justifying the October 7 Hamas operation and describing Israel as a “settler-colonial invasion” in comments reported by the Jewish Chronicle, a staunchly pro-Israel outlet.
Despite the pressure, the Human Rights Council reaffirmed its support, signaling a continued commitment to monitoring the situation in the occupied territories.
We recently sat down with Francesca Albanese for a candid conversation on several issues —her full interview is available here.
(PC, TRT)
One woman still standing up with UN blessing, Thank you! for pointing this out lest we forget too soon amid the blur of Trumps outrageousness …
Miss Albanese is awesome! 100% fearless. She always tells it like it is, and calls it just right. More power to her.
Traditionally, wars between warring nations saw a more or less equitable distribution of losses due to the exchange of killing activity. There are always several such wars happening around the globe, although they rarely attract media attention. The main difference between the war on Gaza and other wars is that one party to the conflict is fenced off from the rest of the world, denied an Airforce or navy and totally dependent on the other party for its very survival. This makes the conflict wholly unfair and unconscionable. If one considers the loss of civilian lives, the ratio is probably 10,000 : 1 that defies a definition such as “war”. To feel the impact of “war”, reciprocity is key.
Kudos, SR Albanese! I am most impressed by your humanity and courage. Viva Palestine!
I’ve just looked at UN Watch’s website, and they’re laughable. In their prize article, “Looking at the observers”, which I was shunted to immediately I got there, Hillel Neuer castigates states for using it to hide their own human rights abuses, never realizing that that is what he is doing for Israel. They remind me of that hilarious “internal human rights lawyer” Arsen Ostrovsky whose tweets caused me much (undoubtedly inadvertent) amusement – at one stage he’d praise that antisemite Donald Trump, at another, he’d make statements like “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” – a classical example of category mistake, conflating thus confusing people with policies.
Fantastic! Power to the Palestinian Chronicle for keeping the truth flowing. I stand with Palestine.