The Canadian government is facing demands to bar Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur overseeing the Palestinian territories, from the country, following comments she made that have been called antisemitic.
Albanese is scheduled to speak at the University of Toronto on Nov. 7 about international law and genocide.
Her official title is “special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.” Special rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council of the UN as independent experts who report back to the international organization. Albanese’s tenure has been controversial.
Earlier this month, Albanese compared Israel to the Third Reich, arguing that the Jewish state was on a genocidal mission to create a “pure race.” She made similar remarks in August. In July, Albanese compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolph Hitler.
Her latest public comments drew the condemnation of Jewish leaders across the globe, including Canada’s special envoy combatting antisemitism, Deborah Lyons. “It is unacceptable for any official — independent or not — to engage in Holocaust distortion,” Lyons wrote on X, referring to a core component of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which was adopted by the Canadian government in 2019.
“This is harmful to Jewish communities and others in Canada and across the globe, which is why there have been condemnations of these statements from multiple countries, elected officials and organizations.”
Similar criticisms have been made in the United States, where Albanese is currently on a speaking tour across American campuses.
“As UN Special Rapporteur Albanese visits New York, I want to reiterate the U.S. belief she is unfit for her role. The United Nations should not tolerate antisemitism from a UN-affiliated official hired to promote human rights,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield wrote on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a congressional briefing the special rapporteur was slated to give in Washington, D.C., was cancelled amid the backlash.
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, appointed earlier this year as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s special advisor on antisemitism, demanded Albanese’s ousting from her position.
“Francesca Albanese has a long history of using antisemitic tropes. It is absolutely baffling to me that the United Nations condones her behaviour and does not remove her from her position,” he wrote on X.
The Canadian mission in Geneva, where Albanese is based, responded to the controversy. “The recent remarks by Francesca Albanese are unacceptable and incompatible with her duty of impartiality, probity and good faith as an independent Special Rapporteur. Antisemitism has no place anywhere,” they wrote last Thursday.
Neither the special rapporteur nor the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which appointed Albanese, replied to the Post’s request for comment.
Albanese released a message last Friday addressing the growing calls for her removal, saying she was “deeply disappointed” that international leaders “have been misled by spurious, recycled allegations against me,” adding that criticism of “Israel’s actions and policies does not render one antisemitic.”
On Monday, the Centre for Israel and Public Affairs (CIJA), an influential Canadian Jewish organization, called on the government to withhold any official meetings, strip Albanese of her diplomatic immunity, demand the UN to revoke her mandate and bar her from the country.
“We call on the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Government of Canada to condemn Albanese’s behaviour in no uncertain terms. Canada must take a strong stance against any form of antisemitism, particularly when it emanates from individuals in positions of influence such as Albanese,” the group wrote in a public statement.
“Her presence in Canada should not be allowed to pass without a clear response from the government. Antisemitism, in all its forms, must be unequivocally condemned, especially when it is cloaked in the guise of human rights advocacy.”
Hillel Neuer, the leader of UN Watch, a watchdog organization that has spotlighted many of Albanese’s most inflammatory comments, agreed.
“We are calling on the Canadian government to deny her an entry visa, on account of her record of supporting terrorism and antisemitism,” the Montreal native told the Post. “Given the repeated violent antisemitic attacks in Canada, Albanese’s visit — certain to fuel more hatred and support for terrorism — poses a national security threat.”
Albanese has a long history of controversial remarks about Jews and Israel, many of which predate her appointment as special rapporteur in May 2022. A list compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reveals she rejoiced when Hamas was removed from a terror group list by the European Union in 2014 and has repeatedly dabbled in classic antisemitic tropes of Jewish control of government and media. “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust,” she said in July 2014.
Albanese was among the earlier voices seeking to justify the October 7 atrocities before the full scope of the devastation was apparent. As the attacks were unfolding, the UN rapporteur wrote, “Today’s violence must be put in context.” In February, she denounced French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements that the attacks were the “greatest antisemitic massacre of the century.”
“The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in reaction to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims.” Four days later, Albanese warned that reports of rape and beheadings were unverified rumours.
The Hamas charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews. It quotes a hadith (saying attributed to Muhammad) Islamic Scripture that says the “Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslims, O oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”
Albanese condemned the deaths of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders over the summer, calling them “acts of aggression” tantamount to “murder.” When Yahya Sinwar, widely seen as the architect of the October 7 atrocities, was killed this month, she called his death “quite inhumane.”
Albanese is the latest UN special rapporteur overseeing the Palestinian territories to be accused of anti-Israel bias. Her predecessor, Western University legal professor Michael Lynk, was appointed amid controversy, with Canada’s then-foreign minister Stéphane Dion criticizing the appointment in 2016. The position was previously held by Richard Falk, another international lawyer, who shared an antisemitic cartoon in 2011 featuring a dog with a kippah and blood dripping from its mouth ripping apart a skeleton.
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