Corruption and Bias at the United Nations

When investigators reveal the activities of individuals performing important tasks for the United Nations (UN), it is little wonder that Israel claims a high degree of bias against it.

According to Wikipedia, special rapporteurs are supposed to be independent experts on human rights who are called upon by the UN to report or advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. In other words, they should be legal experts who are independent of the UN and able to report objectively on a particular situation. As such, their reports are frequently echoed by major news organisations.

Francesca Albanese is an Italian who has been appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. As such she should be independent of the UN and able to give an unbiased view of the that situation.

On Wednesday 12th June, Hillel Neuer of UN Watch travelled to Rome to present his organisation’s latest findings about her activities. They have discovered that she undertook a trip to Australia and New Zealand that pro-Palestinian lobby groups claim to have sponsored – something she denies but that seems to be supported by a lack of official UN documentation.

UN Watch also accuse her office of engaging in the illegal practice of issuing invoices to organisations that invite her to give lectures.

But more important than both of those is the revelation that she leads a ‘Global Network on the question of Palestine,’ which UN Watch says is a network of anti-Israel activists – some of the most extreme anti-Israel activists in the world. Consequently, UN Watch are calling for her to be dismissed from her role by the UN.

Nor is this the first time the UN has been called upon to dismiss her. In February, thousands of lawyers called for her dismissal after she claimed the October 7th massacres were not the result of antisemitism ‘but in response to Israel’s oppression.’