LISTEN: Notorious Antisemite Francesca Albanese Defines Antisemitism

UN Watch, a watchdog that scrutinizes the U.N. and reports its misdeeds, posted a snippet of an interview Monday of notorious antisemite Francesca Albanese in which she explains what antisemitism is and, of course, gets it all wrong.

The interviewer asked the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the territories about accusations against her of antisemitism.

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“You have been called an antisemite as well,” the sympathetic interviewer said. “As a result of your work, you’ve had death threats; your family has all manner of appalling threats leveled against them, too. How do you respond to all of this? How do you look to the future?”

“I know that the accusation of antisemitism is paralyzing,” Albanese responded. “I’m European, and I come from a country who has been visibly, ostentatiously, responsible for the Holocaust — part of the Holocaust. And again, there are so many crimes that have been committed during Nazi fascism.”

Albanese went on to explain that antisemitism includes all Semites, including Arabs, a widely debunked explanation.

“And so, I do know, I do know very well what is antisemitism,” she said. “It’s the — and again, first of all, it’s broader than hate against Jews. It’s hate and discrimination against Semite people, including Arab people. Look at antisemitism is very real against Jewish people and against Arab people.”

“In Europe it’s still real,” she added. “And there is a rise of antisemitism.”

As the interviewer pointed out, Albanese is widely viewed as an antisemite.

At a forum in Doha in February, Albanese gave a video speech wherein she identified Israel as the “common enemy” of humanity. In 2025, she made comments accusing American Jews of faking antisemitic incidents, accusing Israelis of using dogs to rape Arabs and accusing the “Jewish lobby” of subjugating Americans.

In February 2024, she tweeted at French President Emmanuel Macron that Jews on Oct. 7 were “not killed because of their Jewishness, but as a reaction to Israel’s oppression.” In August of that year she compared Israel’s campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust. And in July, she reposted a photo comparing Israel’s prime minister to Adolf Hitler.

Albanese’s comments sparked a furious backlash even among European countries, leading Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany — and even her native country, Italy — to demand her resignation. The United States went further, sanctioning the U.N. official in July 2025.