UN official defends Hamas, labels Israel a military dictatorship at Brown University
At a recent Brown University event, UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese criticized Israel as a 'military dictatorship' and defended some of Hamas’ Oct. 7 actions as 'legitimate acts of resistance.'
Albanese has made numerous similarly controversial statements about the Jewish state before.
A prominent United Nations official recently spoke at Brown University and criticized the Jewish state as a “military dictatorship.”
The event was hosted on Sept. 16 with UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. It was entitled “Anatomy of a Genocide: A Failure of the International System?” according to The Washington Free Beacon.
“This is why I call it a military dictatorship, because it applies military orders written by soldiers, applied by soldiers, reviewed in military courts,” Albanese said during her presentation. “Maintaining a military dictatorship over 5 million people is not the best way to be loved by these 5 million people.”
“Since the very beginning of this assault … I have announced the risk of genocide because of the genocidal statements” Albanese stated. “It has been very violent rhetoric that emanated from an ideological hatred against the Palestinians.”
Albanese continued to defend Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel, calling attacks on Israel’s military bases a “legitimate act of resistance.”
“I’ve not qualified the entire attack on the seventh of October as an illegitimate act of resistance because targeting military bases and military objects is a legitimate act of resistance,” Albanese contended during the event at Brown.
On Oct. 7, Albanese previously critiqued Israel on social media and wrote that the Hamas massacre “must be put in context.”
24 state attorney generals recently sent Brown an open letter, urging the university to reject a divestment proposal that has been brought forward by a pro-Palestinian student group.
If approved, the proposal would cause the university to divest from companies that have financial ties to Israel, which could trigger anti–BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) legislation in “nearly three-fourths of states.”
“If adopted, the Brown Divest Now proposal will have immediate and profound legal consequences for Brown,” the attorneys general wrote, “because it may trigger the application of laws in nearly three-fourths of States prohibiting States and their instrumentalities from contracting with, investing in, or otherwise doing business with entities that discriminate against Israel, Israelis, or those who do business with either.”
“We therefore urge you to reject this antisemitic and unlawful proposal,” the letter concluded.
Campus Reform has contacted Brown University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
