UN official Albanese calls Israel 'common enemy' of humanity at Al Jazeera forum

The United Nations Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, once again accused Israel of genocide in Gaza during an Al Jazeera Forum on Saturday entitled "The Palestinian Cause in a World Moving Toward Multipolarity."

Albanese who is known for her anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements, claimed that "international law has been stabbed in the heart" through Israel’s self-defense military operations in the Hamas-initiated Gaza war since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of 251 people from southern Israel.

“The fact that most of the media in the Western world has been amplifying … the genocidal narrative is a challenge. But at the same time, here also lies the opportunity,” she stated. “Because if international law has been stabbed in the heart, it is also true that never before has the global community seen the challenges that we all face."

Albanese further claimed that humanity “now has a common enemy … And the respect for fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to gain our freedom,” using classic anti-Semitic rhetoric that falsely presents the Jews as the enemy of humanity. 

In February 2024, the World Jewish Congress condemned Albanese after she equated the Jewish state with Nazi Germany. 

“The constant statements made by [Albanese] comparing Israel to Nazi Germany are not only deeply offensive, but a gross distortion of history,” the World Jewish Congress stated. 

In April 2025, the U.S. opposed the renewal of Albanese's role.

“Today, the US sent SG@antonioguterres a letter opposing Francesca Albanese’s renewal as UN Special Rapporteur. We condemn her virulent antisemitism, which demonizes Israel and supports Hamas,” the U.S. UN Mission stated at the time. 

Senior Hamas terrorist Khaled Mashaal and the Iranian regime’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also spoke at the Al Jazeera forum on Saturday. 

Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon condemned Albanese. 

"Francesca Albanese exploits her position at the UN to echo terrorist propaganda and antisemitism," Danon's wrote in a post on social media. "And if what she has done so far was not enough, she is expected to speak at the Al Jazeera forum alongside the chief murderer who heads the Hamas terrorist organization, Khaled Mashaal."

The Israeli envoy to the European Union Avi Nir-Feldklein also blasted Albanese in a direct address to the UN chief Guterres.

“UN Secretary‑General [Antonio Guterres], how do you justify the UN’s Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, appearing at a forum run by Al Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood propaganda arm, alongside the foreign minister of Iran’s terror regime, fresh from killing and executing its own citizens, and alongside a senior leader of Hamas, one of the world’s deadliest terrorist organizations, responsible for the October 7th massacre?”

Araghchi claimed that the Gaza conflict constituted a “defining question of justice” in Western Asia. 

“Palestine is not one issue among many. Palestine is the defining question of justice in West Asia and beyond…The strategic and moral compass of our region,” he argued. “It is a test of whether international law has meaning, whether human rights have universal value."

He also accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza. “What we are witnessing in Gaza is not merely war…It is the deliberate destruction of civilian life on a massive scale, it is genocide,” the Iranian foreign minister claimed. 

Araghchi did not mention that his own ayatollah regime last month murdered tens of thousands of Iranian civilians who protested against the oppressive rule of the regime. Opposition groups have estimated that the ayatollah regime killed some 30,000 protesters during only two days in January, making it the most lethal crackdown in modern Iranian history. 

Araghchi also accused Israel of threatening the Middle East. 

“Israel’s expansionist project has had a direct and destabilizing impact on the security of all countries in the region,” Araghchi said, failing to mention the ayatollah regime’s own expansionism across Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Gaza. Arab Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates also view the regime’s aggressive policies as a threat.