March 31, 2025 — Paris
Today, Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, Managing Director of AJC Europe, wrote to UN member states expressing concern about the possible reappointment of Francesca Albanese, to serve as UN Special Rapporteur regarding human rights in the Palestinian territories.
On behalf of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), I am writing to urge your government to publicly express its view that Ms. Francesca Albanese is unfit to serve as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Despite her long history of engaging in offensive, inappropriate, and antisemitic rhetoric, Ms. Albanese’s term, which began with her appointment on April 1, 2022, will be automatically renewed for another three years on April 1, 2025.
Since her appointment in May 2022, Ms. Albanese has systematically demonstrated a troubling pattern of conduct and expression that is incompatible with the responsibilities, neutrality, and integrity expected of a UN Special Rapporteur. Her statements, affiliations, and documented behavior not only call into question her impartiality, but have also actively contributed to delegitimizing the very institution she represents.
We are especially concerned by the following documented facts:
1. Justification and Minimization of Antisemitic Violence
On February 10, 2024, following the national tribute led by President Emmanuel Macron to the victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre—which the President rightfully called “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century”—Ms. Albanese publicly contested this framing, stating that the victims “were not killed because they were Jewish.” By denying the antisemitic nature of a premeditated massacre carried out by a terrorist organization that explicitly calls for the annihilation of Jews, Ms. Albanese engaged in a form of moral relativism incompatible with the UN’s commitment to combating antisemitism in all its forms.
This is part of a broader pattern: instead of unequivocally condemning the October 7 atrocities, Ms. Albanese has routinely contextualized and relativized such violence, portraying it as the inevitable outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This approach dangerously undermines the rights of victims, emboldens extremists, and discredits the UN’s claim to moral leadership.
2. Use of Inflammatory, Biased, and Delegitimizing Rhetoric
Throughout her mandate, Ms. Albanese has persistently employed language that demonizes Israel and veers into classic antisemitic tropes:
- Only recently Ms. Albanese personally attacked AJC — one of the oldest and most respected Jewish advocacy organizations — accusing us of engaging in “mafia-style advocacy.” Such language is not only deeply inappropriate coming from a UN mandate-holder, but also further illustrates a pattern of hostility
- On February 10, 2024, following the national tribute led by President Emmanuel Macron to the victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre — described by the President as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century” — Ms. Albanese publicly disputed that characterization, asserting that the victims “were not killed because they were Jewish”.
- Moreover, in November 2022, Ms. Albanese took part in a conference organized by the “Council on International Relations – Palestine,” an entity widely reported to be affiliated with Hamas and chaired by senior Hamas figure Basem Naim.
- Even prior to taking up her UN mandate, Ms. Albanese made a number of deeply troubling public statements. In a 2015 post, she compared Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto and equated Hamas with Jewish partisans during the Holocaust — a distortion of history that trivializes the Shoah and inverts its moral significance. A year earlier, she shared content accusing the U.S. and Europe of being “subjugated by the Jewish lobby” and driven by “Holocaust guilt,” echoing classic antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Such remarks go far beyond legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and fall squarely within the working definitions of antisemitism recognized by democratic institutions across Europe.
3. Repeated Associations with Extremist-Affiliated Groups
Ms. Albanese has participated in events organized by institutions and individuals known to be closely affiliated with the Hamas movement, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Canada, and others.
In November 2022, she appeared at a conference organized by the “Council on International Relations – Palestine,” an entity widely reported to be a public relations arm of Hamas. She has also reportedly collaborated with individuals sanctioned or designated by democratic governments for links to extremist groups.
Such associations violate both the spirit and the letter of the Code of Conduct for Special Rapporteurs, as reaffirmed in HRC Presidential Statement 8/PRST/2, which emphasizes the need for independence, objectivity, and accountability.
Mr. Minister, at a time when antisemitism is surging in Europe and across the globe—including in multilateral forums—it is crucial that X stand firmly in defense of the principles of impartiality, human dignity, and truth in the international system.
The continued appointment of Ms. Albanese sends a deeply troubling signal to Jewish communities worldwide, to the victims of antisemitic violence, and to all states and civil society actors who believe in a multilateralism rooted in integrity and universality.
Her actions not only betray the victims of terrorism and antisemitism, but also are a stain on the credibility of the Human Rights Council itself.
We therefore respectfully urge X Country to express opposition to the renewal of Ms. Albanese’s mandate and reaffirm publicly Xs commitment to combating antisemitism within all international bodies, including the United Nations.
Your voice matters. We trust that you will bring this concern directly to Ambassador Jürg Lauber, President of the Human Rights Council, and to other member states committed to defending the foundational values of the UN Charter.
We remain at your disposal and thank you for your unwavering commitment to the principles that bind us together.
Yours sincerely,
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen
Managing Director
American Jewish Committee Europe
