Francesca Albanese — Anatomising Israel’s genocide comes at a cost

Of all the unsung heroes featured in this magazine, Francesca Albanese’s name and face might be one of the most recognisable. Her speeches at the United Nations and elsewhere have garnered tens of millions of views online. She often speaks of the “love and compassion” shown to her by people moved by her work.

And yet, the forces arrayed against her appear near-total, especially when compared to the minimal support she receives to carry out her role.

For instance, it’s a little-known fact that the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is an unpaid position.

In a recent interview, she described herself as a “volunteer working with a network of volunteers,” while facing hostility and hate from some of the world’s most powerful and well-connected states.

The US administration, under both Joe Biden and now Donald Trump, opposes her mandate, and officials have smeared her as antisemitic. Israel has labelled her persona non grata and barred her from entering the country.

France and Germany both accused Albanese of “hate speech and antisemitism” at the UN, criticising her for focusing on Israel’s alleged genocide while rarely acknowledging its right to self-defence.

In March last year, Albanese presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council on Israel's war in Gaza, titled Anatomy of a Genocide. It concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, in Gaza and now, she says, in the West Bank as well. The report was immediately rejected by Israel, the US, France, Germany and others. Albanese later said she had received death threats in its aftermath.

And yet, her findings are in line with conclusions drawn by other international bodies. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled last year that South Africa’s genocide claim was plausible.

Far from trading in diplomacy, her message is unavoidably political: that the law either applies equally, or it doesn’t apply at all

And holocaust historian Barry Trachtenberg testified before the ICJ that a consensus was emerging among genocide scholars: “We are watching the genocide unfold as we speak,” he said. “We are in this incredibly unique position where we can intervene to stop it.”

Albanese has since concluded that the moment for prevention has passed. “We have failed to prevent genocide,” she said in a recent interview on the podcast The Rest is Politics. 

She now describes her job as a “chronicler of genocide,” adding that “the mask has fallen off” — a reference to the brazen disregard for international law not only by Israel, Russia, and the US under Trump, but also by European states, most of which have ignored the ICJ’s July ruling requiring UN members to suspend trade and investment tied to Israel’s illegal occupation.

In this climate, where legal standards are openly ignored, Albanese has not softened her tone. She has, instead, grown more precise.

“Impunity,” she wrote recently, “has been the rule, not the exception” since Israel’s founding 76 years ago. But it is now “at a climax.”​ Far from trading in diplomacy, her message is unavoidably political: that the law either applies equally, or it doesn’t apply at all.

In this spirit, she has championed the formation of The Hague Group, a coalition of nine countries from the Global South — Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa — described as a “bulwark to protect international law” in an increasingly “lawless world.”

The group has pledged to support arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, impose arms embargoes, and refuse safe haven to individuals accused of grave crimes. 

Albanese has urged others to join, particularly European countries, whose governments (outwardly at least) still speak the language of law and values. “If we are to salvage an international legal order in this current moment, the international community must see this initiative grow,” she wrote. So far, no one has answered her call.

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