Francesca Albanese will ‘spread poison’ at British universities, say Jewish leaders

“Francesca Albanese has a long history of deeply problematic statements, including describing America as ‘subjugated by the Jewish lobby’,” they said.

“She also uses Holocaust comparisons in a manner that is deeply offensive to most Jews. Grotesquely, she has also argued that antisemitism was not a factor in the October 7 massacre.”

In February of this year, Albanese replied to French President Emmanuel Macron to say the victims of October 7 were killed “in response to Israel’s oppression” rather than their Jewish identity.

The Union of Jewish Students said Albanese’s presence at London universities underscores the “increasingly belligerent environment” on British campuses.

“Ms Albanese’s role as UN Rapporteur has been marked by positions and statements perceived as antisemitic, including justifying the recent October 7 atrocities, Holocaust inversion, and endorsing conspiracy theories around the so-called ‘Jewish lobby’,” they said.

“We urge universities to consider the impact of hosting Ms Albanese and the message it sends to Jewish students and allies who are deeply affected by these statements. UJS’ welfare hotline continues to be open 24/7 for any Jewish students worried or affected.”

Former Higher Education Minister Robert Halfon said: “As a believer of freedom of speech, she should be able to speak but I hope Jewish students are going to be able to invite less partisan speakers, even perhaps some of whom have an understanding that Israel is facing an existential war against extreme Islamism, terrorism and Iranian totalitarianism – without facing restrictions, intimidation or boycott campaigns.”

On Monday, Albanese will speak first at LSE to the Grimshaw Club, a student society on international affairs, and the Palestine Society in a discussion moderated by the university’s chair of public international law, Professor Gerry Simpson.

Later that day she will appear at Soas to deliver a talk to the general public.

“In this thought-provoking and timely lecture, a year after Israel declared its war against Hamas, Francesca Albanese will situate the current war within its historical antecedents,” the university’s website states.

“Drawing from her ongoing work at the United Nations, she will ask us all to consider what is happening in Palestine, who is responsible and what may yet be done about it.”

On Tuesday, Albanese will speak at an event hosted by Queen Mary’s school of law and moderated by Professor Neve Gordon.

The event is co-sponsored by a range of bodies at the university, including the South Asia Forum, the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice, and the Centre for Film and Ethics.

Albanese has previously sparked outrage and calls for her sacking from members of the US congress.

In 2022, she spoke to a Hamas-linked conference in Gaza that was also attended by senior members of terror groups such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Speaking to attendees, she reportedly declared: “You have a right to resist this occupation.”

A decade ago, Albanese claimed in a Facebook post that America had been “subjugated by the Jewish lobby” and that Europe would not criticise Israel because of its “sense of guilt about the Holocaust”.

She has since said she regrets the remarks.

“Some of the words I used, during Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip in 2014, were infelicitous, analytically inaccurate and unintendedly offensive,” she told The Times of Israel. “I distance myself from these words, which I would not use today, nor have used as a UN special rapporteur.”

Writing on social media following as Israel attacked Gaza in the wake of October 7, Albanese said: “Our collective obliviousness to what led, 100 years ago, to the Third Reich’s expansionism and the genocide of people not in conformity with the ‘pure race’ is asinine. And it is leading to the commission of yet another genocide.”

Albanese has also praised the terrorist Leila Khaled, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member who hijacked a plane en route to Tel Aviv in 1969.

Commenting on a 2015 news story which revealed that Khaled was to tour South Africa, Albanese wrote: “Go Leila go!”

The Italian lawyer was appointed to serve a three year term as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories in 2022.

She has since produced a series of reports that accuse Israel of turning the West Bank into an open-air prison and imposing a system of apartheid.

Last year, a bipartisan group of US Congress members said she had a clear lack of impartiality and should be fired by the UN.

Dozens of human rights groups have defended Albanese and insisted that Israel is running a smear campaign designed to silence legitimate criticism of their human rights violations.

Albanese, Soas, LSE and QMUL have been contacted for comment.

Students can call the UJS welfare hotline on on 020 7424 3281