Georgetown University has removed UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese from its list of affiliated scholars, UN Watch, the Geneva-based NGO that monitors the United Nations, said in a statement on Monday.
Albanese is the first UN official in history to have been condemned by Canada, Germany, and France for antisemitism and Holocaust inversion.
Until recently, Albanese’s name appeared at the top of the “Other Affiliated Scholars” page of Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of International Migration, said UN Watch. However, both her profile and photograph have now been removed from the university’s website. Her Georgetown biography page has also been deleted, as confirmed by archived copies cited by UN Watch.
In a recent interview, Albanese acknowledged the loss of her affiliate status with a university and complained about the personal and professional impact of sanctions imposed by the US.
The decision by Georgetown follows months of advocacy by UN Watch, which documented Albanese’s antisemitic rhetoric and defense of terrorism in a 60-page report. The watchdog organization had been calling for her removal for more than six months.
“We welcome Georgetown University’s decision,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch. “Academic institutions have a responsibility to uphold basic standards of integrity and human dignity. Removing an official who has repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic rhetoric and justified terrorism is a necessary step toward restoring those standards.”
“This sends an important message,” Neuer continued. “Positions of authority at the United Nations do not grant immunity from accountability, and universities should not serve as safe havens for those who abuse their platforms to promote hatred.”
“The UN must now follow Georgetown’s lead and remove Albanese,” Neuer added. “There ought to be no place in the human rights system for officials who promote hatred and excuse terrorism.”
Albanese’s anti-Israel bias was first exposed in 2022, in the form of antisemitic posts she made on social media, in which she claimed that the “Jewish lobby” controls the US.
At the time, Albanese rejected arguments that the comments about the “Jewish lobby” were antisemitic and claimed they were “mischaracterized”, but her anti-Israel bias has continued to be exposed since.
Her criticism of Israel has grown since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. The attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, was described by Albanese as an act that must be viewed in “context” and as a response to Israeli “aggression.”
She has also in recent months accused Israel of genocide, likened the Government of Israel to the “Third Reich,” and compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against Albanese in July, calling her remarks “biased and malicious.” Albanese responded that the measures were “an affront, not just against me, against the United Nations.”
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