France Moves to Remove UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanese Over Israel Remarks

France is demanding the resignation of United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese following remarks she made at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, with Paris expected to formally raise the issue at the next session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The move marks a rare escalation by a major European power against a sitting UN mandate holder and follows mounting political pressure inside France after Albanese said at the forum that humanity “now has a common enemy,” a remark French officials interpreted as referring to Israel.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the remarks during a parliamentary session, saying they crossed a clear line. “France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks by Ms. Francesca Albanese, which target not the Israeli government, whose policy may be criticized, but Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Barrot said.

More than 20 French parliament members subsequently signed a letter demanding that Albanese be stripped of “any UN mandate with immediate effect.”

Albanese made the comments during the 17th Al Jazeera Forum, held in Doha from February 7–9, where she appeared on a panel titled “The Palestinian Cause in a World Moving Toward Multipolarity.” She shared the stage with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

During the discussion, she stated that “Humanity now has a common enemy,” a line widely interpreted as referring to Israel.

Barrot said the remarks “add to a long list of scandalous positions, justifying October 7, mentioning the Jewish lobby, or comparing Israel to the Third Reich.”

Albanese later pushed back against the criticism in a post on X, saying her words had been manipulated. “The common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine,” she wrote, rejecting the claim that she had described Israel itself as the “common enemy.”

Israeli officials also responded publicly. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said, “A UN mandate cannot be used as a platform to promote political propaganda against Israel,” criticizing what he described as the misuse of the Special Rapporteur position.

Israel’s ambassador to the European Union, Avi Nir-Feldklein, wrote that it was “deeply troubling” that a UN mandate holder appeared at a forum alongside representatives of Hamas and Iran, and called on the UN Secretary-General to address the matter.

The controversy has also spread beyond France. In Italy, the right-wing League party filed a parliamentary resolution calling for Albanese’s immediate resignation, Representatives of Italy’s Jewish community welcomed France’s move, calling it “an important signal” for the credibility of international institutions.

As of Wednesday, there has been no official response from the United Nations or the Human Rights Council regarding France’s demand. French officials are expected to raise the matter formally at the upcoming UNHRC session, though it remains unclear whether sufficient support exists among member states to advance the call for her removal.