The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanese, renewed her harsh criticism of the Israeli government during a lecture at the University of Vienna in December and denounced the treatment of the Palestinians as “genocidal destruction”. Albanese called for an immediate end to the violence against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and emphasized the need to comply with international law. Comparable to the case of the apartheid regime in South Africa, Albanese said that a collective approach by Western civil societies was needed to bring lasting social changes in Israel.
Alexandra Dubsky
19 December 2024
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Albanese’s call for the release of all hostages, whether Palestinians or Israelis, was met with spontaneous, strong applause from the students present. The lecture entitled “Genocide as colonial extermination” attracted a large number of interested people. The main hall and two additional lecture halls at the university building in Spitalgasse, where the lecture was broadcast live, were filled to capacity. The organizer of the lecture, Helmut Krieger from the Institute for International Development at the University of Vienna, who invited Alabanese to Vienna, criticized the university rectorate for not making a larger hall available despite the request.
Impressions outside the university
In her lecture, Albanese emphasized that a genocide could take various forms, but is always fuelled by “ideological hatred and the dehumanization of others”. She accused Israel of deliberately dehumanizing the Palestinians and mentioned reports in which they were referred to as “human animals”. She criticized the systematic destruction of the Gaza Strip, including homes, schools, universities and farmland, as well as the blockade of aid supplies. The legal expert questioned why medical supplies such as anaesthetics are not allowed to enter Gaza by Israel and stated that this deliberately increases the suffering of the civilian population.
According to Albanese, the war in the Gaza Strip is not a defensive war, but a “genocidal war”, the aim of which is the destruction of an entire ethnic group. She pointed out that, according to international law, Israel could not claim a “right to self-defense” on occupied territory.
A rally with pro-Palestine chants and flags took place in front of the lecture hall. Slogans such as “Viva Palestina” and “Free Palestine” were chanted. Posters with the slogan “From the river to the sea” were removed at the request of the police who eventually arrived on campus.
The event also attracted counter-protests. The Jewish Students’ Union of Austria (JöH) accused Albanese of both “anti-Semitism” and of “ignoring the suffering of the Israeli population and showing sympathy for Hamas”.
Despite criticism from the Israeli side, Albanese defended her position. She argued that criticism of Israel’s policies was not a form of anti-Semitism, but rather a demand for compliance with international law and basic human rights. Anti-Semitism should not be used as a pretext to suppress legitimate criticism of the Israeli government. Albanese appealed to the international community to support the Palestinians in their struggle for justice and self-determination and to put an end to the systematic oppression. She drew a comparison with the former apartheid state in South Africa. “Apartheid in South Africa was not ended by the US and British governments. It was the civilian populations of the Western world who created a countermovement through their consumer boycotts,” said Albanese. She appealed to the audience to take similar action in the case of Israel.
