By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - United Staff for Gaza expressed "regret" Friday for attacks by France, Germany and other European countries against the UN special rapporteur, who monitors human rights in the Palestinian territories.
"United Staff for Gaza regrets that the French, German and other Foreign Ministers have, based on evident dis- and misinformation, levelled unwarranted accusations against the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese," a statement said.
The statement said the attacks came after Albanese delivered a pre-recorded speech Jan. 7 at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar.
Speaking on the situation in Palestinian territories, she highlighted "the commission of genocide of Palestinians and the ways in which the international community has, in her view, aided and abetted this genocide," and that the system enabling such crimes has shown itself to be "the common enemy of humanity."
Soon after, fake videos and images began circulating, falsely claiming Albanese said, "Israel is the common enemy of humanity."
On Feb. 10, French parliamentarians repeated the false claims in a letter to the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, urging sanctions against Albanese and asking for her removal from her UN mandate.
Germany, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic also publicly condemned her remarks, though one Austrian minister later deleted a social media post, according to the statement.
Criticizing the ministers for accepting the distortions without verification, United Staff for Gaza said, "We express alarm that the French, German and other Foreign Ministers appear to have uncritically accepted as fact clear distortions of Special Rapporteur Albanese’s remarks. We encourage them to consider the evidence and retract their statements of condemnation."
The group also condemned "dis- and misinformation and other hostile actions" targeting Albanese, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
It noted that "the Special Rapporteur, as well as 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, have been sanctioned by the United States of America, and that UNRWA has been subjected, by the Government of Israel, to violence, obstruction, and rampant disinformation."
Calling for international support for Albanese, the ICC, and UNRWA, United Staff for Gaza urged all Human Rights Council members "to maintain their commitment to the integrity of the system of special procedures."
The group also stressed that "the international community must remain seized, and step up its condemnations of the relentlessly inhumane and illegal acts perpetrated by the Government of Israel against the Palestinian people," citing ongoing bombings in Gaza, restrictions on humanitarian aid, and forced displacement from the occupied West Bank.