• Media reports confirm Francesca Albanese never called Israel ‘common enemy of humanity’
• Amnesty chief brands European ministers’ refusal to retract ‘political cowardice’
• French lawyers file criminal complaint against Barrot over false statements
• Ruffalo, Bardem among over 100 celebrities rallying behind UN expert
• OIC warns fabricated claims risk undermining credibility of UN Human Rights Council
TOP European government officials who led a smear campaign against United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, have failed to apologise or withdraw their calls for her resignation, even after multiple reports confirmed the allegations were based on a fabricated quote.
France 24 and Reuters verified that Albanese did not describe Israel as the “common enemy of humanity” during a forum in Qatar earlier this month, an allegation levelled by Israeli officials and echoed by European ministers.
Transcripts of the event show she was referring to a global system of finance and weaponry. Yet diplomats from France, Germany and other nations have so far declined to correct the record.
Amnesty International has demanded that European states immediately withdraw their accusations. Its secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said ministers in Austria, Czechia, France, Germany and Italy had attacked Albanese on the basis of a “deliberately truncated video” that gravely misrepresented her remarks.
“The ministers that have spread disinformation must act beyond merely deleting their comments on social media — as some have done,” Callamard said. “They must publicly apologise and retract any calls for Francesca Albanese’s resignation.”
She described the refusal to issue corrections as political cowardice, pointing to the stark contrast between the speed with which governments condemned a UN expert and their reluctance to hold Israel accountable for actions Amnesty has characterised as genocide and apartheid.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation added its voice to the chorus of condemnations. In a statement, the bloc said the allegations were “based on misrepresented and fabricated claims” regarding remarks the rapporteur neither made nor endorsed. The OIC warned that distorting the statements of UN mandate holders risked undermining the integrity of the Human Rights Council.
Albanese also responded to the diplomatic fallout directly. Addressing the controversy, she clarified that her speech in Doha had identified the “common enemy” as the system enabling violence, specifically “financial capital”, “algorithms” and “weapons”.
“A lie was exposed. Instead of retracting it, the SYSTEM that enabled the genocide, attacks the messenger,” Albanese wrote on X. “France knows it stepped in something foul, but pride forbids correction.”
She noted that three European governments had accused her with a “virulence” they never applied to the perpetrators of violence in Gaza, where the death toll has reportedly surpassed 72,000.
Legal complaint filed in Paris
Legal pressure is now mounting in France over the government’s refusal to correct its public statements. Middle East Eye reported that Jurdi, the Association of Lawyers for the Respect of International Law, had filed a crime report with the Paris public prosecutor accusing the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, of disseminating false information by a public authority.
Barrot told the French parliament that Albanese had made “outrageous and reprehensible remarks”, claiming she had targeted Israel as a nation.
Jurdi argues that because the verified transcript proves otherwise, the minister’s statement makes up a misrepresentation that could endanger the UN expert’s safety.
Support for Albanese also comes from the cultural sphere. According to AFP, over 100 figures from the entertainment industry — including actors Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Javier Bardem — have signed an open letter defending her work. The letter, organised by Artists for Palestine, said the rapporteur was being targeted for her defence of Palestinian rights.
Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026
