The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories accepted around $20,000 in payment from pro-Hamas groups to fund her trips to Australia and New Zealand in late 2023, as revealed by UN Watch on Wednesday.
Francesca Albanese’s mandate was renewed last month despite extensive opposition from the US, Israel, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Hungary. When asked about her trip to Australia in November 2023, Albanese said it was funded by the UN. In July, she said she had nothing to hide and welcomed an inquiry into the matter.
However, the UN Watch NGO revealed that her trip was funded by several groups, including the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFPA), Free Palestine Melbourne, Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), and Palestinian Christians in Australia.
AFPA publicly announced on its website that it paid for Albanese’s visit to Australia.
The group has expressed pro-Hamas views in the past. UN Watch reported that it posted a video in which a woman reads the will of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, chief orchestrator of the October 7 massacre, describing it as “moving” and “like poetry in Arabic.” The will includes calls to honor the blood of martyrs and a commitment to armed struggle.
APAN has faced similar criticism, especially toward its leader, Nasser Mashni. Australian newspaper Herald Sun revealed that Mashni lauded Palestinian terrorists, including Iham Kamamji, who murdered Israeli teenager Eliyahu Asheri in 2006. Mashni himself was convicted of kidnapping and threats in 1991, UN Watch added.
Sky News reported that a children’s charity run by Mashni was sending funds to terrorists in Gaza. In response to the release of Edan Alexander this week, Mashni said, “Palestinians in Gaza, including all the ‘prisoners’ in Israeli gulags, are all HOSTAGES!!!”
“Albanese has compounded her misconduct, accepting funding from Hamas-supporting organizations and then lying by claiming the UN paid for her trip,” said UN Watch director Hillel Neuer. “She continuously abuses her position at the UN to spread antisemitic rhetoric and amplify Hamas propaganda through social media, TV, and her false reports.”
UN Watch filed complaint regarding trip's funding
UN Watch filed a complaint regarding the funding for the trip, after which the UN secretariat referred the matter to the special rapporteurs’ Coordination Committee. The committee, according to UN Watch, is primarily comprised of Albanese’s allies, such as Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to health, from South Africa, who has claimed Israelis are “barbaric, evil, and deserving of hell on earth.”
Additionally, the United States mission to the UN sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres stating that it opposed the renewal of her role due to her “virulent antisemitism, which demonizes Israel and supports Hamas.”
Despite the committee finding that Albanese did lie about her funders and the US opposition, her mandate was nevertheless renewed. According to UN Watch, the committee also found that Albanese expressed antisemitic views on social media but, despite this, insisted she “is not antisemitic.”
“Every day she remains in office casts a shadow over the integrity of the Human Rights Council and the UN as a whole,” said Neuer.
Albanese has an extensive history of antisemitic comments and posts. Just a week after October 7, she said that Israel’s retaliation was not self-defense and was an excuse for ethnic cleansing. She has frequently made X/Twitter posts accusing Israel of using dogs to rape Palestinians.
In February 2024, she said the October 7 massacre was a “reaction to Israel’s oppression” and called Gaza “the largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st century.”
She has previously equated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler and made parallels between Israel and Nazi Germany, which the World Jewish Congress called “not only deeply offensive but a gross distortion of history.”
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.