US-Israeli campaign against UN Rapporteur who criticized Netanyahu
Washington DC. (Quds News Network)- American and Israeli officials launched a smear campaign against the United Nations special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, Francesca Albanese, calling her antisemite after she criticized Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Thursday, Albanese responded to a post on X that featured a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu being celebrated after giving a speech at the US congress.
“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned late last October after stating that the world body failed to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, wrote in the post.
Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 27, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)
A United Nations rights expert has endorsed a social media post comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, drawing rebuke from Israel and the US.
On Thursday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, responded to a post on X that featured a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu being greeted by US congressmen this week.
“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned late last October after accusing the world body of failing to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, wrote in the post.
“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” Albanese said in her response, linking the praise that Netanyahu received by pro-genocide congressmen to that which Hitler used to receive by supporters.
This is precisely what I was thinking today.
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) July 24, 2024
US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michele Taylor, hastened to write on X that the comparison of Netanyahu to Hitler is “reprehensible and antisemitic.” He also described it as “dehumanizing rhetoric.”
Meanwhile, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN who repeatedly vetoed a ceasefire in Gaza, called Albanese’s comments “antisemitic”, claiming that she is “not fit for this or any position at the UN.”
There is no place for antisemitism from UN-affiliated officials tasked with promoting human rights. While the United States has never supported Francesca Albanese’s mandate, it is clear she is not fit for this or any position at the UN. https://t.co/d70cv54q57
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) July 26, 2024
Commenting on the claims by American and Israeli officials, Albanese hit back, insisting in a follow-up post on X that “the memory of the Holocaust remains intact and sacred thanks to people of conscience worldwide.”
“Institutional rants and outbursts of selective moral outrage will not stop the course of justice, which is finally in motion,” she added.
