Francesca Albanese: podcast appearances and interviews

Francesca Paola Albanese is an Italian legal scholar and expert on human rights. She has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 since May 2022. Albanese is the first woman to hold this position. As part of her work, she has been critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and has made recommendations for developing plans to end the occupation and apartheid. Following the Israeli invasion of Gaza, she called for an immediate ceasefire and warned of the risk of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. In March 2024, Albanese reported to the UN Human Rights Council that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. Her reports and statements have prompted accusations of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias from pro-Israel organizations, including the U.S. government, which imposed sanctions on her under Executive Order 14203. Despite these, many human rights groups and scholars have considered these accusations illegitimate attempts to discredit her. Albanese has also reported on corporate entities enabling and profiting from the occupation, including Microsoft, Alphabet Inc., and Amazon. She holds a law degree with honours from the University of Pisa and a Master of Laws in human rights from SOAS University of London. She was an affiliate scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University until late 2025. Additionally, she serves as a senior advisor on Migration and Forced Displacement at the non-profit Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development.