Canada urged to follow suit with U.S. sanctions on contentious UN rapporteur

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OTTAWA — Canadian observers are applauding the U.S. move to sanction a controversial UN rapporteur, while one Jewish affairs group is calling on Canada to completely divest itself from her.

Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for West Bank and Gaza, was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday — with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling out her “illegitimate and shameful efforts” to convince the International Criminal Court to take action against American and Israeli officials, companies and executives.

“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” Rubio wrote on social media. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”

Casey Babb, an advisor to Secure Canada and Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow, applauded the move, describing the nearly 700 days since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as an “open wound” for Israelis and Jews around the world.

“For Francesca Albanese, our pain has been an opportunity,” he said. “Not only has she used it to make a name for herself, she’s also used it as an opportunity to relentlessly spread mis- and disinformation related to Israel, Jews, and Western liberal democracies.”

Several nations, including France and Germany, publicly condemned Albanese for antisemitic remarks — which included numerous comparisons of Israel to the Third Reich, and comparing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.

Albanese last visited Canada late last year as part of a sponsored speaking tour that included a November 2024 Parliament Hill news conference, where she publicly accused Canada’s “Israel lobby” of cancelling meetings between her and former Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.

Joly’s staff, however, told the Sun they’d never agreed to meet with her, and no meetings were ever scheduled.

Toronto Immigration Lawyer Sergio Karas, who was part of a coalition of lawyers opposing Albanese’s visit, told the Sun her history of anti-Israel activism means Canada should consider following suit with the Americans.

“If there’s reasonable grounds to believe entry of a person is going to threaten the safety and security of Canadians, then that person is inadmissible,” he explained.

“Her promotion of antisemitism and anti-Israel activities endanger the Jewish community in Canada — it’s like she’s pouring fuel into the fire. She’s using her position as cover, and promoting the false narrative of ‘genocide’ in Gaza.”

Albanese, Babb said, wasted no time in using Oct. 7 as an excuse to begin a public campaign against Israel, including downplaying the Oct. 7 attacks — which saw Palestinian terrorists conduct a campaign of murder, kidnappings and sexual assault against thousands of Israeli men, women and children.

“Francesa posted that what Hamas was doing needed to be ‘put in context.’ By October 11th, she was writing posts online suggesting claims of sexual violence were unsubstantiated,” he said.

Since Oct. 7, Canada has seen an explosion of hate and anti-Israel activism on city streets, university campuses and even Toronto’s Jewish neigbourhoods — as well as a concerning increase in crimes targeting Jewish families, organizations and buildings.

Antisemitic slogans and signs are common at these protests, as are participants showing overt support for proscribed terror organisations, and describing Israel’s self-defence efforts as a so-called “genocide” against Gaza.

Gerald Steinberg, president of Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor, likewise applauded the move, and urged Canada to follow suit.

“Albanese, like her predecessors, was appointed based on her history of crude antisemitism,” he told the Sun. 

“The U.S. demand that she be removed sets an important marker for all countries that take the UN seriously, and particularly Canada. This position that singles out Israel for demonization should be abolished.”

CIJA CALLS FOR ALBANESE DIVESTMENT

Others here at home are calling on the government to divest itself from further interactions with Albanese

In an email to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board Chair Manon Brassard, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) President Noah Shack raised concerns over government use of Albanese-crafted materials on Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“Francesca Albanese has a long record of inflammatory and antisemitic rhetoric that has been widely condemned,” Shack wrote in the letter.

“In Oct. 2024, she publicly compared Israel’s actions to those of the Nazi regime, accusing the Jewish state of pursuing a genocidal mission to create a “pure race.” In July of the same year, she likened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.”

Those statements, he said, are not only offensive and false, but also constitute Holocaust distortion.

“Canada’s own Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva has also refused to engage with her,” Shack wrote.

“This leads to a fundamental and troubling contradiction: If Canadian officials refuse to engage with Ms. Albanese because of her lack of credibility, why is the IRB relying on her material and presenting it as neutral background information for refugee adjudication?”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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