Italy’s witch-hunt of Francesca Albanese reveals a fear of truth

“Ms. Albanese, you are a witch.” That’s what Israel’s representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, shouted a few weeks ago, after Francesca Albanese presented yet another report on the genocide industry in Gaza — one that pointed to the complicity of several countries, including some in Europe.

Whilst we’ve become used to the free-for-all attacks on Albanese – particularly from Israel – that are never based on any evidence, what went almost unnoticed was the reaction to the report that came from Italy’s own representative to the UN, Maurizio Massari. He declared that “the report presented today by Special Rapporteur Albanese is entirely devoid of credibility and impartiality.”

He too avoided engaging with the substance of her accusations regarding European complicity in the massacre of Palestinians. And following a pattern that has become routine among many Italian politicians and journalists from across the political spectrum, Massari accused Albanese of not being “impartial.”

This was rich coming from Massari, who certainly didn’t remain “impartial” as the Italian ambassador to Egypt following the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, who was tortured to death in an Egyptian prison. Faced with the injustice of the killing, he rightly championed the search for truth.

Today, however, he echoes the posture of much of Italy’s political class, that treats Albanese as the perfect enemy Italian populism needs to defeat.

The lack of political debate

The level of toxicity regarding the debate on Albanese is all too apparent amongst Italy’s media and political pundits. In Florence, during an election rally in October, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini — second in command to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — shouted from the stage that Albanese should “take a little boat from Livorno, make your own flotilla, but don’t be a pain in the a**”.

He added: “I hope the UN fires her tomorrow morning, because she doesn't represent me and she doesn't represent you.”

Another recent and outrageous example was when talk-show host Giovanni Floris joked with columnist Massimo Gramellini (one of Italy’s most prominent journalists) that the UN rapporteur “acts a bit superior and comes across as unpleasant”. Their reasoning?  Albanese “acts like a schoolteacher”.

Certainly, as evidenced, the commentary on Albanese is often gendered, to the extent that even when they are more sympathetic, journalists resort to describing her physical appearance. But the witch-hunt against her has also shown that when it comes to serious political analysis, Italy is still far behind.

Indeed, our national public discourse seems to prefer crude slogans, Islamophobic clichés, and reducing Israel’s occupation of Palestine to a football game that involves two equal competing teams.

In reality, the culture of political debate in Italy has been deteriorating since the 90s, with the end of mass political parties. And the case of Francesca Albenese has demonstrated its diminished state today.

Even some of the supposedly ‘enlightened voices’ have contributed to the current climate. Corrado Augias, for example, who is one of Italy’s most respected intellectuals, remarked about Albanese in an interview: “We could have done without her, can I say that?”

His words also reveal a national malaise: we are still addicted to dusty old commentators operating within frameworks as obsolete as the Sykes-Picot borders.

‘Traitor’

Voices like the Special Rapporteur, who disturb the status quo by exposing uncomfortable truths about the involvement of Italian companies and politicians in Gaza’s destruction, are a threat that must be undermined.

Against the backdrop of a far-right rhetoric peddled by Meloni’s government, this is presented as an attack on the ‘nation’ that must be respected, therefore the actions of Albanese can be treated as treachery to the “homeland”.

Accusations of Holocaust denial are also mounted against her, even by Meloni herself who remains loyal to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI).

Often described in contrast to the Italian Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, these defamatory attacks reinforce Italy’s inability – or unwillingness – to portray solidarity with Jewish people against antisemitism as being perfectly compatible with believing in, and supporting, liberation for Palestinians.

That as an Italian citizen, Albanese is enduring an international campaign of persecution — led by Israel — barely registers at home. She has been sanctioned by the United States, receives death threats around the world, and is insulted daily by her own nation’s media and politicians.

The old Italian saying, that one is never a prophet in their own land, rings true.

Clearly, here in Italy, we prefer to side with the bully, hence Meloni’s self-declared friendship with Donald Trump. The regular use of slander, isolation, and exile towards some of the brightest minds like Albanese, is therefore unsurprising. It is far easier than holding up a mirror and recognising the deep political crisis that exists within our own country.

I should be amongst the millions who states, that as an Italian, I am proud of Francesca Albanese, and all the injustice she has rightly confronted with grave danger to her life and freedoms.

Shady Hamadi is an Italian-Syrian writer and the author of a trilogy exploring Syrian history and his family, all published in Italian. He is also a regular columnist for Ilfattoquotidiano.it.

Follow him on X: @HamadiShady

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