Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: For the first time, Prime Minister Netanyahu is signaling that he wants to end the war on Gaza
Israeli Channel 12, citing an American source: We want to have entered a path toward captive release and a ceasefire before Netanyahu arrives in Washington
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and two injured in the Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in the town of Mahrouna
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle between the towns of Jwayya and Mahrouna.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: One martyred in the Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Kawnin
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli drone targets a car in the town of Kawnin
Naeini: If our national interests are attacked again, our response this time will be stronger and more destructive
Naeini: The war has proven that the settlers are defenseless against Iranian missile and drone forces
Naeini: Trump lacks an understanding of the true strength of the Iranian people and is so deluded as to believe he can change the reality of Iran's victory
Naeini: The defeat led to Trump's confusion and loss of balance, which was reflected in his ill-considered statements

UN rapporteur on human rights: 'Israel' treats Palestine 'as colony'

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 12 May 2023 15:20
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

Israeli government ministers are calling on the UN human rights rapporteur to resign amid her newest findings, claiming she is "spreading hatred."

  • x
  • Palestinian rescue workers walk amid rubble after Islamic Jihad commander Ahmed Abu Daqqa was killed in an Israeli strike, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2023
    Palestinian rescue workers walk amid rubble after Islamic Jihad commander Ahmed Abu Daqqa was killed in an Israeli strike, in the southern Gaza Strip May 11, 2023. (Reuters)

During her first visit to the UK since being appointed as UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories last year, Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese stated that "Israel" treats the Palestinian territories as colonies that belong to it. 

Israeli government ministers, such as Amichai Chikli who claimed she was “spewing hatred and antisemitism”, called on her to resign as she has also been labeled as biased by Zionist groups. 

Senior UN officials have been called on by Albanese's advocates to defend her position, since she has described the attacks as “intimidation, no more, no less” but says they will be as effective as “dogs barking at airplanes”.

Read more: 'Israel' walks out of UNSC Palestine session ironically citing 'bias'

Albanese told The Guardian, “For me, apartheid is a symptom and a consequence of the territorial ambitions Israel has for the land of what remains of an encircled Palestine ... The cause is the colonies. Israel is a colonial power maintaining the occupation in order to get as much land as possible for Jewish-only people. And this is what leads to the numerous violations of international law.”

She further added that if states are supposedly committed to the two-state solution, then these same states should make sure that "Israel's" conduct is actually aligned with the "possibility of having a Palestinian state." This, according to Albanese,"means sovereignty from a political, economic, cultural point of view. The right to self-determination should be the starting point."

Related News

Stop the genocide or witness end of life in Gaza: UN experts warn

EU President must face war crimes charges: Albanese

“Member states need to stop commenting on violations here or there, or escalation of violence, since violence in the occupied Palestinian territory is cyclical, it is not something that accidentally explodes. There is only one way to fix it, and that is to make sure that Israel complies with international law.”

A first in UN history

The human rights lawyer is also scheduled to pay a visit to the Palestinian embassy in London in commemoration of the Nakba and will convene with MPs and Jewish progressive groups.

This year will mark the first time in its history that the UN is marking the Nabka formally.

She has been accused by some Israeli groups of likening the Nakba to the Holocaust, which she denied. “In as much as the Holocaust has been a defining moment in the collective life of the Jewish people, so is the Nakba, for the Palestinian people,” she said. “So I’ve not said that they are the same, simply because they are not. Why would we compare two tragedies?”

She has also denied claiming that "Israel" had no right to self-defense. “Israel has the right to defend itself, its citizens, territory, no matter the fact that it has not defined its borders, but it cannot justify the occupation in the name of self-defense or the horror it imposes on the Palestinians in the name of self-defense,” she said.

The UN general assembly has received Albanese's first report on the right of Palestinian self-determination and is currently being reviewed with a report to the human rights council on the deprivation of liberty through what she describes as the “systemic arrest of Palestinians on security and public order grounds”.

Albanese said “a tragic characteristic” of Western involvement in the region was its failure to uphold the law without double standards, especially the UK, which was a colonial power in Palestine.

“The responsibility on the UK is higher considering the historical legacy of the UK in the area,” she said. “The UK doesn’t seem to be active on this agenda, such as compliance with international law. It is about time there is a paradigm change towards the question of Palestine.”

  • Francesca Albanese
  • Palestine
  • IOF
  • United Nations
  • Human Rights

Most Read

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a protest following the US attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Iran declares victory as ceasefire forces Israeli retreat

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire

Iran victorious as ceasefire with 'Israel' takes effect

  • Politics
  • 24 Jun 2025
Iranian worshippers carry their country's flags in a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)

Iran warns of NPT withdrawal, Strait of Hormuz closure after US attack

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
In this June, 12, 2021, file photo, former Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani sits in a meeting in Tehran, Iran.
Politics

Iran strategically foiled Israeli-US scheme, Advisor Shamkhani says

Sheikh Naim
MENA

Let no one think they can subjugate Hezbollah: Sheikh Qassem

Screengrab from a video published by the al-Qassam Brigades shows confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam releases video of deadly ambush with Israeli forces in Gaza

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Grossi, attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 23, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran bars IAEA chief Grossi from nuclear facility inspections

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS