Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinians, who has a long history of spreading Jew-hatred, can’t avoid being served in a defamation lawsuit, which two Christian charities filed, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado ruled on May 15.
The United States has sanctioned Albanese, whom several governments have decried for antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks.
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, which is based in Colorado, and Christians for Israel USA filed the lawsuit in September.
The two were among those who received threatening letters from Albanese, purportedly in preparation for a U.N. report she planned to publish. In the report, she alleges that the charities and others involved with Israel could face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in international court.
The U.S. State Department sanctioned Albanese for the intimidation campaign. A federal court blocked those sanctions temporarily last week in a controversial decision.
The two charities accuse Albanese of making false statements tying them to genocide and war crimes in Gaza, “knowingly spreading malicious lies.”
The entities say they focus on building friendships between Christians and Jews and supporting communities in Israel. Albanese’s accusations caused the charities reputational harm and hindered their ability to carry out their work, they say. They further allege that Albanese intended to cause them such harm.
Albanese accused Christians for Israel of supporting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria financially and training residents how to use firearms. The organization said that any claims of military aid are false and that it is involved in humanitarian aid to prospective and new immigrants to Israel and elderly Holocaust survivors, as well as assistance to Arab Christians in the region.
Christian Friends of Israeli Communities said it supports projects for disabled and elderly Israelis, as well as children in Judea and Samaria.
That organization faces “a serious risk of being implicated in international crimes” that may result in “criminality liability,” Albanese threatened in her letter.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to mandate that Albanese retract her statements, refrain from making them again and pay monetary damages.
Albanese appeared to have been properly served last year while visiting South Africa, but the South African government later said that the service was not properly authorized, despite a document showing a high-ranking justice department official had approved it.
Friday’s decision by the U.S. district court acknowledged that the suit had been properly served through email and social media to Albanese, who is believed to be in Tunisia.
The ruling gives Albanese 21 days to respond, or a default judgment will be entered against her.
Questions of immunity remain, given that Albanese is a U.N. official. Some claim that her mandate was improperly renewed, thus making her appointment void and stripping her of immunity. The U.S. sanctions indicate that Washington does not believe that Albanese has standard U.N. immunity.
