Pro-Israel activists accused Albanese of referring to Israel as the \u201ccommon enemy,\u201d which she denied.<\/p>\n
In a letter organized by the Artists for Palestine group and shared with AFP, over a 100 cultural figures backed her, including actors Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, Nobel-winning author Annie Ernaux and British musician Annie Lennox.<\/p>\n
The signatories \u201coffer our full support to Francesca Albanese, a defender of human rights and therefore also of the Palestinian people\u2019s right to exist,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere are infinitely more of us, in every corner of the Earth, who want force no longer to be the law. Who know what the word \u2018law\u2019 truly means,\u201d it concludes.<\/p>\n Published in French on the Artists for Palestine website, it also reproduces the full remarks by Albanese, who was speaking via videoconference at a forum last Saturday organized by the Al Jazeera TV network.<\/p>\n \t Other celebrities to offer support for her include actresses Rosa Salazar and Asia Argento, Oscar-nominated film directors Yorgos Lanthimos and Kaouther Ben Hania, Latin music star Residente, and photographer Nan Goldin.<\/p>\n A group of French MPs sent a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday denouncing Albanese\u2019s remarks as \u201cantisemitic.\u201d<\/p>\n Barrot called for her to step down a day later, saying that France \u201cunreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday said her position was \u201cuntenable.\u201d Austria and Italy, Albanese\u2019s home country, also said her comments showed she was unsuitable for her post.<\/p>\n Albanese is one of the most outspoken critics of Israel\u2019s more-than-two-year war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that was launched following the October, 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.<\/p>\n She has called it \u201cthe shame of our time\u201d and says she always asks prime ministers, presidents and foreign ministers the same question: \u201cHow do you sleep? When will you act?\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese has a long history of making statements accused of being antisemitic, anti-Israel and pro-Hamas.<\/p>\n \t 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 The Italian-born legal expert, who began her unpaid role in 2022, was targeted with sanctions<\/a> by the Trump administration in July last year over what it called her for her \u201cunabashed antisemitism\u201d and \u201cbiased and malicious\u201d work.<\/p>\n UN special rapporteurs like Albanese are independent experts who are appointed by the UN rights council, but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.<\/p>\n UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres distanced himself from Albanese on Thursday when his spokesman said, \u201cWe don\u2019t agree with much of what she says.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t use the language that she\u2019s using in describing the situation,\u201d his spokesman Stephane Dujarric added.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tSunrise Coigney (L) and Mark Ruffalo (R) attend the 96th Annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. Ruffalo is wearing a pin depicting an orange hand holding a heart, which calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. (JC Olivera\/Getty Images North America\/Getty Images via AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AFP__20251128__86FR39Y__v1__HighRes__GeneralStrikeInGenoaItaly-640x400.jpg\")
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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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