US blasts UN Palestinian rights official who rejected antisemitic undertones of Oct. 7 attack

The US blasts UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinians Francesca Albanese after she denied French President Emmanuel Macron’s claim that Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught was the most significant antisemitic attack of the century and instead insisted that the victims were targeted “in response to Israel’s oppression.”

“Francesca Albanese has a history of using antisemitic tropes. Her most recent statements justifying, dismissing and denying the antisemitic undertones of Hamas’s October 7 attack are unacceptable and antisemitic. We expect more of independent UN experts and condemn all forms of antisemitism,” US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor tweets.

“We fully support the French Foreign Ministry’s condemnation of any attempt to dispute or justify the October 7 terrorist massacre, the largest antisemitic incident of the 21st century. We must stand together against antisemitism,” US Antisemitism Envoy Deborah Lipstadt chimes in.

Facing mounting criticism, Albanese clarified that she was not justifying Hamas’s “crimes, which I have strongly condemned several times.

“I reject all racism, including antisemitism — a global threat. But explaining [Hamas’s] crimes as antisemitism obscures their true cause,” she said.