Current and former United Nations staffers have spoken out in defense of Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, after she faced attacks from a pro-Israeli NGO and several European government officials.
Albanese – who, like all special rapporteurs, is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but is not a UN staff member – has been subjected to repeated attacks from pro-Israeli figures and bodies, with one of the most fervent critics being UN Watch, a pro-Israel NGO.
The UN Watch, which is not a UN body, spread an edited clip of Albanese, 48, speaking at the Doha Forum earlier this month, in which the NGO falsely said she had called Israel “the common enemy of humanity”.
Albanese’s actual words were: “We now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy and the respect of fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to regain our freedom.”
The NGO’s clip grabbed the attention of European officials, including those from Austria, Czechia, France, Germany and Italy.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot went as far as saying he would demand her resignation on February 23 when the next session of the UN Human Rights Council is held. On February 9, a group of French MPs sent Barrot a letter denouncing Albanese and calling her remarks “anti-Semitic”. Two days later, Barrot called for Albanese to resign.
The spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry published a thread on social media on Saturday, denying Barrot’s calls for Albanese to resign were connected to the edited video.
He also pointed out Barrot had written to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights in April 2025 to oppose her automatic renewal as special rapporteur because he felt her “multiple shortcomings would weaken the credibility of UN mechanisms”.
Hundreds of UN staffers, who are members of a group called United Staff for Gaza, hit back at the European governments targeting Albanese.
“United Staff for Gaza regrets the disinformation that has circulated in recent days concerning Special Rapporteur Albanese, which has been taken up by the French, German and other Foreign Ministers in their levelling of unwarranted, vitriolic accusations against the Special Rapporteur,” the group said in a statement on Friday.
“United Staff for Gaza appeals for a rectification of these errors and calls for an end to personal attacks, threats, intimidation, and disinformation targeting UN agencies, mandate-holders, and personnel.”
United Staff for Gaza is not an official UN body, but is made up of current and former staffers, who created the group last July to defend Palestinians’ rights. Today, it boasts nearly 2,500 members.
“The initiative serves as a channel for colleagues around the world, regardless of their areas of work, to speak out against the perpetration of mass atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and help defend the UN Charter,” says the group’s website.
“[Our] statement is not just to support her, but to stand against all untruthful smear campaigns that target the UN and advocates for the human rights of Palestinians worldwide, including UNRWA,” Dali ten Hove, a former UN staffer and member of the United Staff for Gaza, told Al Jazeera, referring to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer and expert, was appointed the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories in May 2022. Today, she is one of the most prominent global figures calling out Israel for its genocidal war in Gaza, and advocating for Palestinian rights in general – a stand that has led to numerous attacks on her by pro-Israeli governments and organizations.
Albanese has also been backed by UNRWA, which in a statement said the latest attacks on her “aim at silencing her voice and undermining the few remaining independent human rights reporting mechanisms”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Francesca Albanese / United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese [File: Lukas Coch/EPA]
[ SOURCE: AL JAZEERA ]
