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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n Pro-Israel activists accused Albanese of referring to Israel as the \u201ccommon enemy,\u201d which she denied.<\/p>\n My full AJ Forum speech last week: the common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it. pic.twitter.com\/PzTQFFybsG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) February 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Albanese herself posted an unedited clip of her comments on social media, with the caption: \u201cThe common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the Czech Republic\u2019s Foreign Minister Petr Macinka, whose country is one of Israel\u2019s strongest supporters in the European Union, on Friday quoted Albanese on X as having called Israel a \u201ccommon enemy of humanity,\u201d and called for her resignation.<\/p>\n German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday that Albanese\u2019s position was \u201cuntenable,\u201d while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused her of making \u201coutrageous and reprehensible remarks\u201d against Israel. Austria and Italy, Albanese\u2019s home country, also said her comments showed she was unsuitable for her post.<\/p>\n \u201cPatience has its limits. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese should resign from her position.<\/p>\n Her latest statements, in which she described Israel as a \u2018common enemy of humanity,\u2019 are unacceptable and indefensible. pic.twitter.com\/gKguvqq9xC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@CzechMFA) February 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Albanese has a long history of making statements accused of being antisemitic, anti-Israel and pro-Hamas.\n<\/p>\n On October 11, 2023, four days after the attack, Albanese said she doubted reports of rape and sexual violence. Instead, she said the US and Israel were spreading these claims to escalate tensions. She said Israel had no right to self-defense immediately after the Hamas invasion of Israel; said Israelis should be \u201cconsidered suspect\u201d and investigated when they are abroad; said other countries should halt pharmaceutical exports to Israel; characterized Israel as a \u201cgenocidal society\u201d; and positioned the Jewish state as an impediment to global justice.<\/p>\n She told a Harvard University gathering that when Hamas refers to killing Jews (Yahudi), they do not actually mean Jews.<\/p>\n She has called accusations that UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre \u201cfallacious allegations,\u201d though there has been clear evidence supporting it.<\/p>\n Last November, she posted a cartoon denouncing Israel, depicting what appeared to be a global spiderweb, its strands draped with cash and weapons, in an image that experts said echoed age-old antisemitic tropes.<\/p>\n She was sanctioned by the US government<\/a> last year for her \u201cunabashed antisemitism<\/a>\u201d along with\u00a0other anti-Israel international legal<\/a>\u00a0figures.<\/p>\n The European calls for Albanese\u2019s resignation came after US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration in June penned a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres demanding Albanese be removed and alleging she engaged in \u201cvirulent antisemitism and support for terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n Responding overnight to the new calls for her resignation, Albanese said on X that European governments \u201caccuse me \u2014 based on statements I never made \u2014 with a virulence and conviction that they have NEVER used against those who have slaughtered 20,000+ children in 858 days\u201d since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n Albanese was citing figures from Gaza\u2019s Hamas-run health ministry, which puts the death toll in Gaza at more than 72,000 people, including over 500 since the October 2025 ceasefire. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.<\/p>\n \t The Israeli military believes Hamas\u2019s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every combatant.<\/p>\n The IDF says it has killed over 23,000 combatants in Gaza and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.<\/p>\n Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza\u2019s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tUN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese (2ndL), Swedish activist of Global Sumud Flotilla, Greta Thunberg (C) and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila (R) march during an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstration as part of the nationwide general strike, in Genoa on November 28, 2025 (Piero CRUCIATTI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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