 "Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, slammed Western countries for their hypocrisy and western media for their coverage of the wart in Gaza. File image/Reuters")
A United Nations expert on Monday (September 16) slammed the Western media for their coverage of the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
During a press conference in Geneva, Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that, too often, media has disseminated disinformation which has served to justify the crimes being committed by Israel is Gaza and the entirety of Palestine.
“This coverage has contributed to dehumanise Palestinians and twist public perception, undermining accountability,” she said.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer, went on to make an emphatic appeal to the them. “As a Western citizen myself, I ask Western journalists among you: If you really resent and repent our past, if you really resent and repent what Western countries have done to millions during colonialism, including during Nazi fascism in Europe, stop dehumanising Palestinians.”
“Do your job,” she said.
Giving an update on the situation on the ground in Gaza, she said that for nearly a year now, Israel’s “genocidal assault” has devastated entire families, erased neighbourhoods, and destroyed essential infrastructure including roads, water, and electricity provisions in Gaza.
“This violence has gone unpunished and continues unabated. Nearly 2 million people– over 90 per cent of Gaza’s population– are forcibly displaced and many have been relocated multiple times […] Evacuation orders continue to be issued to a population that has nowhere to go. They are just waiting for their death,” Albanese, who had joined virtually from Tunis, said.
She said that the world continues to remain silent in the face of this “unimaginable” suffering of Palestinians. She further hit out at UN member states, saying “most member states remained inactive at best, or actively aiding and assisting Israel’s criminal conduct.”
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More ShortsShe also made it clear that she was referring to Western countries as well as some Gulf nations.
Albanese also said she believes it is unavoidable for Israel to become a “pariah” on the global stage in the face of its “continuous, relentless, vilifying assault of the United Nations, on top of millions of Palestinians.”
It is important to note that although the rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, they do not speak on behalf of the UN.