The recent information warfare campaign using fake news and misinformation to target Dr. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is clearly motivated to discredit her important work on Palestine. It is a ruthless attempt to silence her critical voice regarding the situation in Gaza.
The media has portrayed her as promoting anti-semitism by manipulating her speech delivered at a forum in Qatar. In fact, her speech clearly identified “the common enemy of humanity” as “the system that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it, and the weapons that enable it.”
This is the language of structural analysis, not bigotry. Yet it is precisely this kind of analysis that the guardians of the status quo cannot tolerate.
However, despite the clear message, the Ministers in Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, and Italy have rushed to condemn her. The hypocrisy is glaring as these leaders find their voice quickly when Israel’s actions are questioned, but fall conspicuously silent as Gaza is turned into a graveyard.
Their reluctance to hold Israel accountable stands in stark contrast to the Special Rapporteur’s unwavering commitment to speaking truth to power.
We at Citizens International stand with Francesca Albanese. Her works are grounded in evidence, rooted in international law, uncompromising in its commitment to truth, and a powerful manifestation of what the UN should be: a space where power is held to account and the law is not merely decorative.
The recent media campaigns against her are neither subtle nor surprising. It only reflects the latest attempts to discredit her works and silence one of the few voices within the international system willing to name what is happening in Gaza for what it is.
