- UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese is claiming to be a victim of “outright defamation” and called for Elon Musk to censor criticism that she acts as “Hamas’s de facto spokesperson.”
In a response on X to a featured post by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer, which called her “the de facto spokesperson for Hamas” Albanese wrote: “Calling me Hamas Spokesperson is outright defamation, something one might expect from a decent platform that breaks its own rules, but perhaps not from Twitter’s current patron. Am I right, @Twitter?”
Rather than address the extensive public record of her statements and conduct, Albanese effectively called on Elon Musk, the owner of X, to censor criticism of her.
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer replied directly: “Please sue me, Ms. Albanese. As you are a non-lawyer, let me explain: Truth is an absolute defense. I repeat: You are Hamas’s de facto spokesperson at the UN. I would love to put your record before a court. Of course, to sue me, you’d have to admit you know exactly who I am.”
In preparation for such a court case, Neuer followed with a series of documented “exhibits,” including:
- Albanese’s own statements minimizing or contextualizing Hamas’s October 7 massacre while it was underway, blaming Israeli “aggression.”
- Her past praise of Hamas as a political force that “built schools, public facilities, hospitals” and her claim that eliminating Hamas is part of a “genocidal logic.”
- Multiple instances of senior Hamas officials publicly praising Albanese’s UN reports and speeches, expressing appreciation and renewing calls to boycott the “rogue Zionist entity.”
Neuer said:
“Francesca Albanese cannot refute the facts of her record, so she resorts to crying ‘outright defamation’ and trying to get X to censor the truth on her behalf. This is the classic tactic of those who abuse the language of human rights while whitewashing terrorists.
“For years I have documented that Albanese functions as Hamas’s de facto spokesperson at the United Nations. She has repeatedly inverted the Holocaust, invoked classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and the ‘Jewish lobby,’ justified or contextualized the October 7 massacre, and received open praise from Hamas leaders. Multiple democratic governments-including the United States, France, Germany, and Canada-have condemned her for antisemitism and Holocaust inversion. She is the first UN expert in history to receive such rebukes from these countries.
“Truth is an absolute defense. If Albanese believes she has been defamed, she should sue. I invite her to put her full record before a court of law. Until then, her demand that a private platform silence accurate criticism only underscores how far she has fallen from any pretense of impartiality or integrity.”
UN Watch has long tracked Albanese’s pattern of conduct, including her appearances before audiences linked to Hamas, her refusal to condemn Palestinian terrorism while systematically demonizing Israel, and her violations of the UN Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders. The organization has repeatedly called for her removal and documented that her purported term renewal was carried out in violation of UN rules.
