Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for “the occupied Palestinian territories,” who has gained attention for her critical stance against Israel, has stirred controversy again by seemingly linking the recent wildfires in Los Angeles with the ongoing Gaza conflict, The Jewish Chronicle reports.
Albanese sparked further backlash when she shared a post on X that equated the fires in California with the war in Gaza, describing both as “symptoms of the same disease.” The post, originally published by Mondoweiss, a New York-based anti-Zionist outlet, read: “The fires burning in Palestine and Los Angeles today are symptoms of the same disease: a system that values conquest over conservation, profit over people, and expansion over existence.”
The post was connected to an article by Ahmad Ibsais, a Palestinian Arab-American student and BDS supporter, who contended that the crises in Gaza and California are “connected catastrophes.” Albanese shared the article, commenting, “On our small planet, all injustices are connected.”
In response, Waleed Gadban, a political counselor at Israel’s UN mission in Geneva, criticized Albanese, stating, “Hatred doesn’t require a cause, only a chance to manifest. That’s the whole objective of her existence, Francesca Albanese.”
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, accused Albanese of promoting antisemitic rhetoric. “In the modern incarnation of the Der Stürmer slogan ‘The Jews are our misfortune,’ the UN’s Francesca Albanese is actually blaming Israel for the Los Angeles fires. All symptoms of ‘the same disease,’” Neuer wrote.
Neuer called for action from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, urging them to expel Albanese and labeling her an “antisemite.”
Albanese’s anti-Israel sentiments have been evident since 2022, when she made antisemitic remarks online, claiming that the “Jewish lobby” controls the United States. At the time, she dismissed accusations of antisemitism, claiming her words were “mischaracterized.” Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, she has criticized Israel’s right to self-defense, even asserting that Israel has no right to protect itself. She later claimed the October 7 massacre was not antisemitic.
In July, Albanese endorsed a post comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned her actions on X, calling her “beyond redemption.” In August, she accused Israel of committing “genocide” after the IDF struck a Hamas command center located in a mosque at the Al-Taba’een school compound.
In a November interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Albanese declared Israel’s military actions in Gaza, following the October 7 attack, to be illegal. While acknowledging that Israel had the right to defend itself on the day of the attack and in the immediate aftermath, she stated, “Israel didn’t have the right to wage a war against the Palestinians in Gaza.”
{Matzav.com}