UN special rapporteur for Palestinians banned from Israel after appearing to justify Oct. 7 massacre

After the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians appeared to justify Hamas’s October 7 massacre, the foreign and interior ministries announce that Francesca Albanese will not be allowed into Israel.

The Interior Ministry has been refusing to issue a visa to Albanese for months, and now she is officially banned. There is no time limit on the decision.

“The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression,” she wrote in a tweet responding to a Le Monde post reporting on French President Emmanuel Macron honoring the victims of Hamas’s onslaught, including a number of French nationals.

“The ‘greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century’? No, Mr. Emmanuel Macron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims,” she wrote.

“The era of Jews being silent is over,” say Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel in a joint statement. “If the UN wants to return to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly disavow the anti-Semitic words of the ‘Special Envoy’ – and fire her permanently. Preventing her from entering Israel might remind her of the real reason why Hamas slaughtered babies, women and adults.”