UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese calls for global solidarity against war crimes in Palestine

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, spoke at the Groote Kerk in Cape Town on Sunday, 26 October 2025, unpacking the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for action against genocide at every level of society.

Albanese noted that intervening on behalf of the Palestinian people was not just a matter of ideology or an act of charity, but a commitment to “united struggles”.

“There is nothing exceptional about what’s happening [in Palestine] now. This is not a face of darkness that we have not known before — the world has always been this,” she said. “Right now, we need to help [the Palestinians], as others have helped the South African people [and] freedom fighters to bring down the apartheid regime.”

International law was only as strong as the will of states to enforce it, said Albanese. She described grassroots mobilisation as “necessary now more than ever”, in order to ensure governments took action.

“The Palestinians are facing an existential threat, [but also] what’s happening in Palestine will not stay in Palestine,” she said, adding that weapons used against the Palestinians could go on to be used against people in other parts of the world.

The event was hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Groote Kerk, with the support of other organisations such as Gift of the Givers and South African Jews for a Free Palestine.

Attendees gathered beneath signs stating “Stop the genocide”, wearing keffiyeh scarves and Palestinian flags, which have become symbols of protest against the mass killing of people in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces.

Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, which followed the 7 October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, had reportedly killed more than 67,000 Palestinians as of October 2025. 

Though a recent ceasefire, brokered by the US, has seen the release of hostages by Hamas and the return of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, tensions remain high in the region. The United Nations has reported that customs delays, insecurity and limited crossings continue to hinder aid delivery to Gaza.

Read more: Justice as a Compass — Mandela’s legacy, Palestine’s struggle and the ethics of global solidarity

Read more: Justice Minister apologises to UN Special Rapporteur Albanese over court papers blunder

Fighting for change

While Albanese noted that member states of the United Nations had failed to effectively stop violations of international law in Palestine, she said that “things are changing”, in large part due to the mobilisation of young people.

“Things are changing… because of the young generation, which has mobilised against the genocide since the very beginning,” she said.

South Africa’s role in bringing a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice in December 2023, alleging that Israel was contravening the Genocide Convention through its actions in Palestine, had “enormous” impact, according to Albanese.

“Had member states followed what South Africa initiated, the genocide could have stopped, because the obligation to prevent was triggered by the South African intervention. The problem is that no one in the international community did anything. The court said, ‘Yes, we recognise the risk of genocide.’ Well, if there is a risk of genocide, you need to prevent it,” she said.

Albanese said that there was an “ideological element” in parts of the world that had prevented some people from recognising the humanity of the Palestinians, allowing them to remain “threatened, unseen and dehumanised”.

“There is racism, which is a disease that needs to be cured... but also there’s…. economic and financial interests,” she said.

“The unlawful occupation of Palestine has been profitable... This is one of the things in the report… that I presented to the Human Rights Council earlier this year, pointing to the to the many private actors, companies, but also universities, banks, pension funds, charities that for 57 years contributed to strangle the Palestinians, to help Israel displace them from their land, destroy their livelihood, their homes and life.”

Albanese’s report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in June 2025, looked at the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and investigated “the corporate machinery sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project”. 

In the wake of the report, the United States (US) imposed sanctions on Albanese, stating that she had 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”. The US accused her of antisemitism, support for terrorism and “open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West”.

The UN called for the reversal of the US sanctions against Albanese, stating that the decision set a “dangerous precedent” that could undermine the wider international human rights system.

Upholding international law

Speaking at Sunday’s event, Albanese spotlighted the actions of the Hague Group, a global bloc of states committed to “coordinated legal and diplomatic measures” in defence of international law and solidarity with the people of Palestine. The group is co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia.

“The Hague Group gives me hope, because it’s a sparkle of new multilateralism that can happen. But we need to keep on sustaining it and see that we continue to get meaning from it, otherwise it will deflate and become yet another betrayed promise... in the long volume of betrayed promises of our history,” she said.

“My modest advice is to stay small, but focus on concrete achievements. And so they have committed to stop selling weapons and buying weapons… Cutting economic ties, having no port used to transfer anything to Israel, and using the national territory for accountability, so every court can become a place to try war crimes.”

Albanese called for support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, led by Palestinian civil society, which called on international civil society organisations and people all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel until the country complies with international law.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a minister of God or a [political]  minister. This is what we have to do. If you’re an individual, you boycott; if you are a business, you divest. And if you are a civil servant... I hope you find a way to make sure that the government cuts ties with the apartheid state of Israel,” she said.

“The only way to protect Israel is to make sure that Israel complies with international law, which means withdraw the occupation, withdraw the troops, dismantle the colonies, stop exploiting Palestinian resources, make reparations and allow the refugees… to return. We have to start somewhere.”

United fronts

Reverend Rene August, an anti-apartheid activist and Anglican priest, spoke at the gathering on Sunday, referencing an attempt by the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel, US, to serve court papers to Albanese on Saturday, 25 October.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi withdrew the unauthorised process and issued an apology to Albanese, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the United Nations. 

August expressed “regret and embarrassment” that Albanese was served with the court papers. 

“We know that the [Palestinian’s] struggle is connected to our Struggle, because it wakes us up and reminds us we have work to do,” she said.

Mitchel Joffe Hunter, speaking on behalf of South African Jews for a Free Palestine, emphasised the importance of social justice work and creating a society free from oppression.

“We need to, all of us, get out onto the streets, into the pickets, into the courtrooms, into the newspapers, into the institutions of learning and education, of business, of study and of worship, and protest against the transgressions of our family and of the entire world, until we reach a place where everyone — Palestine… Congo, Sudan, South Africa, people all over the world — are free from all oppressions,” he said. DM