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In a letter sent to UN Human Rights Council President Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro on Monday, Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban called for the firing of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
The demand came following Albanese’s remarks over the weekend at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, where she described the State of Israel a “common enemy” of humanity. Albanese also accused Western media of “amplifying the pro-apartheid, the genocidal narrative” about Israel.
Albanese, who holds the official title of “UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967,” has a long record of public antisemitic statements, going back more than a decade.
During an Israeli military operation against Hamas in Gaza in 2014, she asserted, “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish Lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust, remain on the sidelines.”
More recently, in 2024, Albanese compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in a post on X.
Last July, Albanese was put under sanctions by the U.S. government for her “relentless campaign of antisemitic smears and political warfare against Israel and the United States.”
The full text of Seban’s letter follows:
Mr. President,
I am writing to request the reconsideration and revocation of the mandate of Ms. Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since her appointment in 2022, Ms. Albanese has been the subject of recurring criticism from several States and institutional actors, calling into question her impartiality and positions that verge on antisemitism, which are incompatible with the requirements of neutrality and objectivity set out in the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures.
These concerns were reinforced by her recent participation in a forum organized by Al Jazeera in Qatar, during which she suggested that humanity has a common enemy: Israel. Ms. Albanese has also been publicly accused of referring to the existence of a “Jewish lobby” controlling the United States, comparing Israelis or Israeli policies to the Nazi regime, minimizing or rejecting the antisemitic nature of the Hamas attacks of October 7, dismissing Israel’s security concerns, and denying the State its right to self-defense.
In her report Anatomy of a Genocide (2024), she further accuses Israel of conducting a “long-standing colonial process of erasure,” without an equivalent analysis of the actions and responsibilities of Hamas, which raises serious doubts about the balance of her approach.
Taken together, these elements have seriously undermined confidence in her ability to carry out her mandate with the required impartiality. Under these conditions, the continuation of her mandate until April 30, 2028 appears incompatible with the fundamental requirements of the Code of Conduct.
I therefore respectfully request that you consider initiating a formal review of her conduct and any appropriate measures, including the early revocation of her mandate.
Yours sincerely,
Shannon Seban
Director of European Affairs
Combat Antisemitism Movement
