Israel bans entry to UN envoy who claimed October was ‘response to oppression’

Francesca Albanese claimed that 'the victims of the October 7 massacre were not murdered because of their Jewishness, but in response to Israeli oppression.'

By JN Reporter 13 February 2024, 10:43 am

Francesca Albanese speaks at a U.N. forum in New York, May 18, 2018. (Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Israel has banned the United Nation’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories from entering the country following her highly controversial remarks about October 7.

Francesca Albanese, who is known for her anti-Israel stance, claimed that “the victims of the October 7 massacre were not murdered because of their Jewishness, but in response to Israeli oppression.”

The French Foreign Ministry rebuked Albanese, saying: “The October 7 massacre is the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. Disputing it is a mistake. Seeming to justify it, by including the name of the United Nations, is a shame. These comments are all the more scandalous since the fight against antisemitism and all forms of racism are at the heart of the founding of the UN.”

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel issued a joint statement, saying: “The era in which Jews remain silent is over,” the ministers said in a joint statement. “If the UN wants to return to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly repudiate the Special Rapporteur’s antisemitic remarks and fire her immediately. Preventing her from entering Israel might serve as a reminder of the real reason behind Hamas’ slaughter of babies, women and the elderly.”

Albanese has made several controversial and inflammatory remarks since October 7. Two days after Hamas’ unprecedented massacre, the UN rapporteur issued a statement, saying: “Today’s violence must be put in context. Almost six decades of hostile military rule over an entire civilian population (incomprehensibly ignored by too many official statements & media outlets) are in themselves an aggression, and the recipe for more insecurity for all.”

On December 22, Albanese was asked by JNS asked repeatedly whether Hamas was justified in invading Israel and in killing Israeli security forces. “Why is this so unbelievable?. You seem to be puzzled by this. What is the right to resist?”

Albanese also retweeted a post, saying: “The only solution for Zionism is abolishing Zionism, dismantling the Zionist enterprise.”