“You have the right to resist this (Israeli) occupation,” Francesca Albanese reiterated in 2022, speaking via videoconference at an event on Gaza attended by prominent figures from Hamas. This concept was reiterated after October 7 by the initial champion of the entire left, now only of the hard core of the Democratic Party.
Il Giornale can reveal the special rapporteur's participation in an event in the Strip, whose speakers included leading figures from Hamas, designated as a terrorist group in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, and other countries. It was November 2022 when, at ‘16 Years of Siege on Gaza: Impact and Prospects’, the pro-Palestinian heroine spoke after Ghazi Hamad and Bassem Naim. The former is one of the leaders of Hamas, born in Rafah 61 years ago. It was he who, interviewed by CNN after Hamas's seasonal attack, said: “Do you know what the benefit of October 7 is? If you look at the General Assembly (of the United Nations), about 194 members have opened their eyes to Israel's brutality and condemned it. We have been waiting for this moment for over 75 years.” He also stated that Hamas has no regrets about the October 7 attack despite the consequences for the Gaza Strip.
The second, Naim, is a Palestinian Hamas official who served as Minister of Health in the first Haniyeh government (killed in Tehran in 2024), then Minister of Youth and Sports in the Palestinian national unity government of March 2007. His son, Muhammad Naim, a British citizen, was arrested in London in early November, while at the same time the Austrian security services discovered and confiscated weapons and explosive material. It is difficult to be invited to certain events without knowing the speakers, especially when the participants include leading figures from one of the most powerful and deeply rooted armed organizations in the Palestinian world, whose arsenals (in part) have been found in Europe.
The fear was that they would be used to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in Europe. But that's not all, because among the slides shown during the event was the Freedom Flotilla's "humanitarian mission." The 'Women's Boat to Gaza' was also mentioned. The former was the expedition for which Mohammad Hannoun, considered by the US Treasury Department to be Hamas's man in Italy, had campaigned, launching a fundraiser on his website Infopal.
It was the US that also imposed sanctions on the UN rapporteur: "Albanese has engaged directly with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in an attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute citizens of the United States or Israel without the consent of those two countries. Neither the United States nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute, which makes this action a serious violation of the sovereignty of both countries," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
After all, it is difficult to forget that after this measure was taken, it was Hamas itself that defended the pro-Palestinian champion, claiming that the imposition of sanctions by the US was a clear expression of the US administration's blatant bias towards Zionist war crimes, its contempt for the institutions of the United Nations and their representatives, as well as published reports documenting the humanitarian catastrophe created by the occupation of the Gaza Strip. It is not every day that one is defended by terrorists, or that one is a rapporteur alongside Hamas representatives.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg of dangerous "relations" with Hamas. Will those who hand over the keys to our cities and awards to Francesca Albanese at least be able to ask themselves questions about the role of the UN Special Rapporteur?