A unified global stance is essential in confronting the "mafia" tactics employed by Israel against the Palestinians, UN investigator Francesca Albanese told The New Arab on Friday, as she urged states to cut all ties with Tel Aviv.
The special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) made the comments during an event at London-based think tank ODI Global, where she highlighted how the global political landscape and private business interests have facilitated Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its continued entrenchment in the West Bank.
'Colonialism is the root of problem'
"Palestine is a metaphor today to understand the world," Albanese said, highlighting that the conflict did not begin with the 7 October, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel - a framing pushed by Israel and its supporters.
"I understand cultural hegemony now. We’ve been living in a nightmare because we’ve been induced to think that this was a dream, made of wealth and comfort … but it was a lie, a fabrication, a projection" from the reality in Palestine.
She also criticised Britain, slamming the government’s "audacity" to lecture the world on human rights, given the country's imperialist past.
"Israel inherited practices from the British mandate to enforce on the Palestinians, such as home demolitions and the systemisation of torture. It was part of a colonial architecture through which the British established their presence in Palestine then gave away a land that was never theirs to give," said Albanese.
"We can’t understand what’s happening today without going back to British colonialism."
'Resistance is necessary'
The UN rapporteur said resistance for the Palestinians is historical and not ideological, and predates the Nakba of 1948, when Palestinians were already being subjected to violence by Zionist gangs.
"We can’t even speak of Palestinian resistance because the term is made to resonate with terrorism. But this resistance is necessary, and it is primarily peaceful. It pushes back – against all odds – on efforts to remove them [Palestinians] spiritually, culturally, and physically from their land," she said.
"I’m not questioning Israel for what it is, but for what it does. If it doesn’t want to be accused of colonial practices, then it shouldn’t act as a colonial power," she said, defending both Palestinian and Israeli civilians against all forms of violence.
Albanese blamed political inaptitude on the genocide in Gaza and its aftermath since October 2023, tying it to decades of impunity for Israel.
"What we see today in Gaza is, to an extent, the failure of [international] law. It becomes physically painful to coexist with the thought of what’s happening there.
"It won’t stop unless things change in London, or Rome, or Paris," she said, pointing to the former colonial powers.
An economy of genocide
Albanese says she cannot rest knowing the violence hasn’t stopped.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 70,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It has displaced much of the territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants at least once and laid waste to the enclave.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire which went into effect nine weeks ago, Israeli fire has killed close to 400 people.
The agreement was supposed to see Gaza flooded with humanitarian relief, a ceasefire condition Israel continues to obstruct, as the Palestinians there suffer with flooded tents and dwindling aid.
"Palestinians aren’t counted as civilians, doctors, lawyers…they are killable and torturable just because they are Palestinians," she says, infuriated by how much the news of daily Palestinian deaths has become normalised.
Albanese lambasted the private economic sectors that have enabled the genocide, hand in hand with political inaction.
"I resent the fact it took me so long to understand this. This is the core of the matter," she said, referring to economic and financial companies funding Israel’s war machine and apartheid.
"I’m talking about arms manufacturers, producers of heavy machinery – all of this has been used to displace Palestinians from occupied territory."
In the occupied West Bank, approvals to build more illegal Jewish Israeli settlements have spiked since late 2022, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office. Several ministers in his far-right government have openly called for the full annexation of the OPT, even by forcefully displacing the Palestinians.
Private economic entities "have been used to maintain the occupation and have been working with Israel for decades prior to October 7," said Albanese, while also highlighting the "more sadistic and cynical" involvement of universities, research centres, and banks.
Directing her criticism once more at the UK, she said the Labour Party won the elections by promising to disengage from such businesses.
"But now that they’re in power, they align with far-right forces," she said.
Albanese reiterated calls for the public to boycott Israel and for companies to divest, urging people to check if the establishments they deal with are in any way tied to Israel.
"States must cut ties with Israel, and businesses must divest – if not, then government officials must be held accountable. Those who have been complicit with Israeli crimes must face justice wherever they are," she says.
She defended the notion that Israel must "absolutely" repay for the reconstruction of Gaza and offer reparations to the Palestinians, together with every country that is complicit in the genocide, naming the US, Germany and Italy – Israel’s main weapons providers – but also the UK.
Normalising death
Albanese also criticised humanitarian organisations for their lax response as Palestinians were killed while seeking aid from the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
"GHF is a criminal endeavour. Not just in the execution of its mandate, but that the aid was distributed in the most undignified way. I want to recall that some 1,600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid," said Albanese.
"Where was the frustration of humanitarian organisations? Where were the strikes? It’s the normalisation of this brutality which makes me feel hopeless. We go back to the comfort of our lives and we don’t care," she said.
Despite the bleak reality, Albanese praised mass protests which flooded the streets of London and other Western capitals since the start of the Gaza war, as she encouraged people to "please continue."
'People must unite'
The Italian special rapporteur was placed under US sanctions earlier this year, in a move that rights groups described as a dangerous precedent to silence UN mandate holders.
Albanese said she had decided not to speak publicly about the matter for a few months to avoid causing a distraction from Palestine.
On Friday, she briefly touched on how the sanctions have impacted her life and work.
"I am banned from travelling to the US which has an impact as I should be presenting reports to Congress," she says. Her daughter is an American citizen.
The US has also slapped sanctions on judges at the International Criminal Court, including its top prosecutor, Karim Khan. The sanctions came as the ICC pursued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who are wanted over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Albanese has defended the ICC for its efforts to bring Netanyahu and Gallant to justice.
She says the US and Israel were using "mafia" tactics to get their way. She likened it to the Italian mafia, whose power she notes was degraded after decades of struggle and sacrifices.
Beyond the OPT, Israel has bombarded Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran, and launched unprecedented strikes on Qatar.
When asked by The New Arab on what action she would like to see from regional countries, and the international community in general, Albanese simply replied: "Popular unity."
"People in all these countries must stand united, go out en masse, it’s what the Western powers do not want to see," she says.
"The only way to make change is for UN member states and the general public to unite and take a stand," she added.