‘I’m accused of being an antisemite because I criticise Israel’ claims Francesca Albanese in Rest is Politics appearance

She said she had felt “sick in her stomach” the first time she was accused, but went on to say that the allegations have been “weaponised” against her over recent months.

“Antisemitism is hatred or discrimination against Jewish people because they are Jewish,” she said. “Now, the allegations of antisemitism against me have nothing to do with [that].”

She went on: “I’m accused of being an antisemite because I criticise Israel.”

The JC has previously reported on Albanese’s history of controversial statements. On October 7 2023, which saw more than 1,200 killed and over 250 taken hostage by Hamas, she wrote on X: “Today’s violence must be put in context.”

She has also drawn comparisons between Israel’s actions and the Holocaust and between Benjamin Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler. Under the IHRA definition of antisemitism, comparisons between the policies of the Israeli government and those of the Nazi regime is a form of anti-Jewish hatred.

Similarly, in 2014, Albanese accused American opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of being “subjugated by the Jewish lobby”. She has since apologised for that remark.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Albanese said she had become a “chronicler of genocide” since the Israel-Gaza war began. 

She also dismissed the IHRA definition, despite its acceptance by 46 countries including the UK, USA, France, Germany and Poland.

Discussing the definition, Albanese claimed it does not “define a thing”. All it does, she argued, is create an “ambiguity” between criticism of Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and antisemitism.

The special rapporteur also defended some of her predecessors in that role, including Richard Falk, who assumed the office for a six-year term in March 2008.

Speaking about Falk, Albanese said he was “condemned as a self-hating Jew” for speaking about the same topics that she does in the role.

The JC has previously reported on Falk’s controversial tenure in the role. In 2011, the then-Prime Minister David Cameron condemned Falk for posting an antisemitic cartoon on his blog featuring a dog wearing a kippah urinating on Lady Justice while chewing on a skeleton. Falk has previously apologised for posting the cartoon.

Falk also publicly endorsed The Wandering Who by Gilad Atzmon, despite its espousal of antisemitic conspiracy theories. The book declared that “robbery and hatred is imbued in Jewish modern political ideology on both the left and the right” and that “the history of Jewish persecution is a myth, and if there was any persecution the Jews brought it on themselves”.

In a foreword for the book, Falk wrote that it was “a transformative story told with unflinching integrity that all [especially Jews] who care about real peace, as well as their own identity, should not only read, but reflect upon and discuss widely.”

Albanese was asked by Stewart about any “Israeli friends” she had made during her time in East Jerusalem in 2011 when she was working for the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in its department of legal affairs.

She responded that it was “very difficult back then” to have Israeli friends, and that her interactions with them would often be strained, citing an occasion when she met an Israeli woman in a hospital waiting room.

Albanese said: “The Israelis would be so gentle and so kind… [some were from] the US and you start wondering: ‘Where does she live? Does she live in Israel? So why is she in a hospital in Jerusalem? Is she from a settlement?’”

She went on: “Still, you try to say: ‘Okay, don’t judge, don’t judge, just listen.’”

Albanese added that, as soon as she revealed she worked for the UN to the Israelis, a “barrier” would arise between them. When she said she dealt with “Palestinian refugees”, that would be the “end of it”, she said.

The JC has previously contacted Francesca Albanese in regard to these topics and has contacted The Rest is Politics for comment.