The foreign ministers of France, Germany and the Czech Republic have called this week for the resignation of the UN special rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, whom they accuse of having stated that Israel is the “common enemy of humanity”, words that she calls false and taken out of context. The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tiani, has also criticized the diplomat, without going so far as to ask for her dismissal.
It all started in France, where deputy Caroline Yadan assured in a speech before the Assembly that Albanese had described Israel as a “common enemy of humanity” during an Al Jazeera forum held last weekend in Qatar, in which the rapporteur intervened electronically.
Following this, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called for Albanese’s resignation and criticized: “France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible statements of Mrs. Albanese, which are not directed at the Israeli government, whose policies can be criticized, but at Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable.”
For his part, German Foreign Minister Johann Fadivoll joined the call for the rapporteur’s resignation in a message on On the same social network, the Czech Foreign Ministry also attacked Albanese and added that “patience has a limit.”
Also Austria, through its Foreign Minister, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, criticized Albanese this Friday, although the Austrian diplomat deleted X’s message in which he attacked her.
“Attack the messenger”
On Monday, Albanese had published his speech at the forum held last week in Qatar on his X account, along with a message in which he pointed out that the common enemy of humanity is the “system” and not Israel. “The common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has allowed the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that finances it, the algorithms that hide it and the weapons that make it possible,” he stated.
At the Doha forum, Albanese said: “The fact that, instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed it, giving it political excuses, political protection and economic and financial support, is a challenge. The fact that most of the Western media has amplified the genocidal and pro-apartheid narrative is a challenge.”
“We, who do not control large amounts of financial capital, algorithms and weapons, now see that, as humanity, we have a common enemy, and that respect for fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful way, the last peaceful tool we have to regain our freedom,” Albanese added.
This Friday, in response to a publication by the Government of the Czech Republic, the rapporteur insisted that the campaign against her is based on a “lie” and reproached that the “SYSTEM that allowed the genocide attacks the messenger”, instead of “recanting”. According to Albanese, “France is aware that it has made a mistake, but pride prevents it from correcting it (…) and now others repeat the falsehood. “The Inquisition has returned,” he stressed.
UN support
An independent group of current and former UN workers acting in their personal capacity supported the rapporteur in a statement this Friday and asked the countries that have singled her out “based on obvious misinformation and disinformation” to rectify it.
And Stephan Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, on Thursday supported Albanese’s right to “express himself within the mandate conferred upon him,” while noting that those who disagree with his work “have established mechanisms to channel their objections.”
In this sense, France “reserves” the possibility of bringing its request for Albanese’s resignation to the Special Procedures Committee of the UN Human Rights Council.
The UN housing rapporteur, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, has also shown his solidarity with the lawyer, ensuring that “the UN rightly defends Francesca Albanese (…) from the attacks of some European States for a statement she did not make”, and described the condemnations of these countries as “shameful behaviour” that “must stop”. “Without a doubt, these States are better than this,” he concluded.
In July 2025, after presenting a report titled From the economy of occupation to the economy of genocidethe Secretary of State of the White House, Marco Rubio, announced that the sanctions already imposed in February on judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu would also apply to her. His visa was withdrawn and he is prohibited from entering the United States – for example, he cannot go to the UN to present one of his two annual reports, the other is in Geneva. But above all, they froze all of her assets, including her account and her apartment in the United States, although she now lives in Tunisia.
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