France is demanding the resignation of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese following her “outrageous and reprehensible remarks" made during the Saturday Al Jazeera Forum, according to a Wednesday report from French newspaper Le Monde.
According to Le Monde, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned Albanese’s remarks during a Sunday parliament meeting.
Her comments, Barrot said, “target not the Israeli government, whose policies can be criticized, but Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable.”
Le Monde also quoted Barrot as saying that Albanese’s words "add to a long list of scandalous positions, justifying October 7, the worst antisemitic massacre in our history since the Holocaust, mentioning the Jewish lobby or comparing Israel to the Third Reich.”
Barrot’s condemnation comes a day after over 20 French parliament members signed a letter demanding Albanese be stripped of “all UN mandates with immediate effect,” Le Monde reported.
UN's Albanese says humanity has 'common enemy' in Israel at forum
Albanese, appearing at the same conference as Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, spoke during the panel "The Palestinian Cause in a World Moving Toward Multipolarity."
During the panel, she condemned countries for maintaining relationships and arms trade with the Jewish state and alleged global inaction during the two-year Israel-Hamas War.
“The fact that most of the media in the Western world has been amplifying … the genocidal narrative is a challenge. But at the same time, here also lies the opportunity,” she said. “Because if international law has been stabbed in the heart, it is also true that never before has the global community seen the challenges that we all face.”
She stressed that humanity “now has a common enemy … And the respect for fundamental freedoms is the last peaceful avenue, the last peaceful toolbox that we have to gain our freedom.”
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.