Francesca Albanese says she cannot open a bank account and is treated like ‘Bin Laden’ in wake of US sanctions

[Sid Shniad]

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/francesca-albanese-says-she-cannot-open-a-bank-account-and-is-treated-like-bin-laden-in-wake-of-us-sanctions-msayiz48

The Jewish Chronicle                                                                                                                                                        November 9, 2025

Francesca Albanese says she cannot open a bank account and is treated like ‘Bin Laden’ in wake of US sanctions

The UN special rapporteur on Palestinian territories was accused by the US of ‘spewing unabashed antisemitism’

The controversial UN special rapporteur on Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has revealed she cannot get a credit card or open a bank account and is “treated almost like Osama bin Laden” following the American sanctions against her in July.

Marco Rubio, the Secretary of state, said at the time that “The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a special rapporteur.

"Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West.”

In a series of interviews and online conversations collected by UN Watch, an organisation that seeks to hold the UN to account over its anti-Israel bias, Albanese can be seen saying: “No bank can open a current account for me without the risk of incurring secondary sanctions imposed by American law.

“And it lasts in perpetuity. I am treated almost like Osama bin Laden... I suffer great limitations, and I find it horrible, horrible!”

“I am the mother of a US citizen and my husband works for an organisation that is in the US, so you understand that it hits me in the heart right now. My daughter is technically liable for arrest and a fine of up to $1 million for buying me coffee or getting my breakfast.”

Elsewhere, she says: “I have returned to Italy, to Naples, for family reasons. I always rent a car — but I can't any more, because I don't have a credit card. The sanctions are pressure. The United States has been really forceful toward me.”

In another clip, she says: “It's really impairing as a person. It creates a chilling effect around you, because anyone who engages with a US-sanctioned person risks to be arrested and to be subjected to very heavy fines.”

The State Department sanctioned Albanese under an executive order stating those who engage “directly” with an effort by the International Criminal Court to arrest or probe a “protected person” without the consent of the person’s country were subject to having their property and assets blocked.

Albanese’s “bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant,” Rubio said at the time. (The court, which is based in The Hague, is not part of the United Nations.)

“Albanese has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries,” continued Rubio.

“Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute, making this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries.”

Albanese “escalated” her efforts by penning “threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defence, energy and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives,” he said.

“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” he said.

Dorothy Shea, the interim US ambassador to the United Nations, sent a letter to António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, calling for Albanese’s removal and for Guterres to condemn her rhetoric and actions.

Guterres’s office has long insisted that he lacks purview over Albanese, who is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.

A spokesman for Guterres said his office had no immediate comment.

“This is a bold and courageous move by Secretary Rubio. No UN official — in this case, a purported official, as her reappointment was illegal — has ever been sanctioned before in history,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“Francesca Albanese has accused the ‘Jewish lobby’ of controlling America [...] She will never again spread her poison on American campuses or enter the country. Justice is served. Good triumphs over evil.”

Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, stated that the decision sent “a clear message” and that it was “time for the UN to pay attention.”

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said Albanese’s “relentless and biased campaign against Israel and the United States has long crossed the line from human-rights advocacy into political warfare.”

Albanese, who denies being antisemitic, has apologised for using the “Jewish lobby” phrase. She told Piers Morgan on his show she was “was absolutely wrong” for using the term and has since “distanced” herself from it, ever since she learnt “how people, especially Jewish people, feel offended” by it.

Albanese has also claimed that allegations of antisemitism have been “weaponised” against her.

In March she told former Conservative MP Rory Stewart on his Rest is Politics podcast it was “shocking” that “today, the word antisemitism is no longer what it was for me three years ago”.

She said she had felt “sick in her stomach” the first time she was accused of it, but went on to say: "Antisemitism is hatred or discrimination against Jewish people because they are Jewish,” she said, adding: “Now, the allegations of antisemitism against me have nothing to do with [that]. I’m accused of being an antisemite because I criticise Israel.”