Two pro-Israel US Christian groups have sued the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinians for alleged defamation and libel, claiming Francesca Albanese sought to harm them due to their support for Israel, it was announced Monday.
The plaintiffs in the case against Albanese — who has a history of antisemitic and staunchly anti-Israel statements — are named as Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA, two US-based nonprofits.
In the lawsuit filed in a federal court in Colorado, where Christian Friends of Israeli Communities is based, the two groups said Albanese “spread malicious lies” to “harm their reputations and financial wellbeing” due to their support for Israel.
In April, Albanese sent letters to the two groups accusing them of complicity in “gross human rights violations that require immediate cessation,” war crimes, crimes against humanity and apartheid, according to the lawsuit.
The letters said the plaintiffs were at “serious risk of being implicated in international crimes.”
The lawsuit included copies of the letters, which accused the nonprofits of aiding illegal settlement activity, assisting the Israeli military, denying the Palestinians the right to self-determination, and aiding the unlawful annexation of Palestinian land.
The letters drew a response from Leo Terrell, the head of an antisemitism task force at the US Department of Justice, who warned Albanese that her actions were false and defamatory, the lawsuit said.
Weeks later, Albanese published a UN report that attacked the two Christian groups.
The report said the groups and others should be punished by governments, courts and the public. It demanded the nonprofits cease any activity linked to “crimes against the Palestinian people,” pay reparations to Palestinians, be investigated by international and US authorities, and be subject to a boycott.
The lawsuit alleged that Albanese made the statements knowing they were false, which would constitute defamation and libel.
The lawsuit said Albanese has claimed immunity as a UN official, but argued that she made the defamatory remarks outside of her official duties.
Albanese has a history of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric toward Israel and has been sanctioned by the US government.
In July, the United States imposed sanctions on her, accusing her of “political and economic warfare” against the US and Israel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the step was taken in light of “her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt International Criminal Court action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.”
In June, the Trump administration penned a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging him to remove Albanese from her post, alleging “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism.”
Albanese, an Italian national, regularly accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza and has said that the October 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas in Israel must be put in a “context of decades of oppression imposed on the Palestinians.” She has come under harsh criticism from both the Biden and Trump administrations.
Albanese has said that the “Jewish lobby” controls the US, repeatedly compared Israelis to Nazis, rejected antisemitic motivations for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, blamed Israel for the invasion, rejected Israeli security concerns, condemned Israel’s killing of Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar, and denied Israel’s right to self defense, among other inflammatory statements.