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The viscous and sustained campaign mounted against Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, by Israel and the U.S. now includes the German, Italian, French, Austrian and Czech foreign ministers demanding her resignation. This campaign is part of an effort by industrial nations to at once sustain the genocide in Gaza — nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the sham ceasefire took effect — and silence all those who demand the international community abide by the rule of law.
The latest assault on Francesca, part of a concerted effort to discredit international bodies such as the U.N., is based on a deliberately truncated video of a talk Francesca gave in Doha on February 7 that distorts and misconstrues her words. But truth, of course, is irrelevant. The goal is to silence her and all who stand up for Palestinian rights.
Francesca was placed by the Trump administration on the Office of Foreign Assets Control list of the U.S. Treasury Department — normally used to sanction those accused of money laundering or being involved with terrorist organizations — six days after the release of her report, “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide,” which documented the global corporations that make billions of dollars from the genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestinians.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control list — weaponized by the Trump administration to persecute Francesca and in violation of the diplomatic immunity granted to U.N. officials — bans her from entering the U.S. It prohibits any financial institution from having her as a client. A bank engages in financial transactions with Francesca is banned from operating in dollars, faces multimillion-dollar fines and is blocked from international payment systems. This has cut her off from global banking, leaving her unable to use credit cards or book a hotel in her name. Her assets in the U.S. are frozen. It has seen her medical insurance refuse to reimburse her for medical expenses. It has resulted in institutions, including U.S. universities, human rights groups and NGOs that once collaborated with her severing ties, fearing onerous U.S. penalties. The sanctions followed those imposed in February and June of last year on The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan along with two judges for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
By making Francesca, who receives frequent death threats, the lightening rod, these governments seek to deflect attention from the ongoing slaughter and humanitarian disaster in Gaza. They seek to mask Israel’s system of apartheid and unlawful occupation of historic Palestine. They seek to hide, most of all, their complicity with their continuing weapons shipments that fuel Israel’s genocide.
The pace of the genocide has slowed, but it has not stopped. Israel has seized 60 percent of Gaza and blocks most humanitarian aid, including fuel, food and medicine. At the same time, Israel is accelerating its seizure of the occupied West Bank, where more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes since October 2023.
The campaign against Francesca presages a terrifying world where Western industrial nations exploit and prey upon the weak, where the law is whatever powerful nations say it is, where those who dare to speak the truth and stand up for the rule of law are relentlessly persecuted, where genocide is another tool in the arsenal to crush the aspirations and rights of the vulnerable. This is a fight we must win. If we lose, if we let voices like Francesca’s be silenced, we will usher in an age of blood and terror.
Photos
“Disunited Nations” Presentation
BOLOGNA, ITALY – JANUARY 05: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese attends the presentation of Christophe Cotteret’s film “Disunited Nations” at Arlecchino Movie Theater on January 05, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Getty Images)
Civil Defence Teams Recover Bodies After Israeli Attacks in Beit Lahia
BEIT LAHIA, GAZA – FEBRUARY 15, 2026: People watch civil defence teams using heavy machinery to search the rubble of a destroyed building to recover the bodies of the Abu Nasr family members after Israeli attacks. (Photo credit should read Ramez Habboub / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
United Nations Security Council Meets On Ongoing War In Sudan
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 27: International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, attends a United Nations Security Council meeting on Sudan and South Sudan at the United Nations headquarters on January 27, 2025 in New York City. The UN Security Council met to receive the semi-annual briefing from the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan on the ICC’s Darfur-related work. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT
TOPSHOT – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 28, 2023 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Netanyahu said on October 28 that fighting inside the Gaza Strip would be “long and difficult”, as Israeli ground forces operate in the Palestinian territory for more than 24 hours. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Civil Defence Teams Recover Bodies After Israeli Attacks in Beit Lahia
BEIT LAHIA, GAZA – FEBRUARY 15, 2026: Relatives mourn next to a body as civil defence teams use heavy machinery to search the rubble of a destroyed building to recover the bodies of the Abu Nasr family members after Israeli attacks. (Photo credit should read Ramez Habboub / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Israeli illegal settlers raid Hebron, West Bank under protection of Israeli forces
HEBRON, WEST BANK â” FEBRUARY 14: Israeli soldiers block journalists from documenting Israeli settlers raiding the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank on February 14, 2026.. (Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
President Trump Visits Israel And Egypt After Gaza Ceasefire Takes Effect
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Sharm El-Sheikh, on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Trump Visits Israel And Egypt After Gaza Ceasefire Takes Effect
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Sharm El-Sheikh, on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Israeli army targets building in Gaza City
GAZA CITY, GAZA – FEBRUARY 6: Black thick smoke rises after the Israeli army targeted a three-story building near the Askula Junction, wrecking the building in the Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza, on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Settlers-Enter-Hebron-Under-Guard
Israeli soldiers patrol an alley in the Old City of Hebron as Palestinian residents look on in the southern occupied West Bank on February 14, 2026. Hebron is a city of religious significance to both Muslims and Jews due to the Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs. (Photo by Mosab Shawer / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Israel-Demolishes-Home-West-Bank
Palestinians stand near debris at the site of the demolished home of Palestinian Tariq al-Masalmeh in the village of Beit Awa, southwest of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Mosab shawer / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors Around The World Take Part In An International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People
ROME, ITALY – NOVEMBER 29: UN reporter Francesca Albanese and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg hold smoke bombs during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people and against the war economy, on November 29, 2025 in Rome, Italy. Many groups supporting Palestine are coming together this weekend in solidarity with Palestinians asking their governments to stop the supply of arms to Israel and stop the genocide. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
This post has been syndicated from The Chris Hedges Report, where it was published under this address.