The Simon Wiesenthal Center human rights organization in Jerusalem has called on United Nations Secretary General António Guterres to fire UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese following the discovery of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda in her social media history.
Albanese, who oversees the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent investigation into Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, said during the 2014 conflict between Israel and terror groups in Gaza that the “Jewish lobby” had taken control of the United States, that the “Israel lobby” controlled the BBC, and accused Israel of starting the cross-border war out of greed. Albanese also has compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
“It is an outrage to allow a proven anti-Zionist and anti-Semite to head the UN Human Rights Council’s already biased investigation of the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” said SWC’s Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, SWC’s Director of United Nations Relations and Strategic Partnerships. “How Albanese was ever allowed to be appointed to this position is yet another file in the mounting evidence of the systemic prejudice against Israel, and the acceptance of maligning Jews in the United Nations today.”
US Jewish organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International and the American Jewish Congress condemned Albanese’s statements.