UN Special Rapporteur On The Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca P. Albanese: What Is Happening Today Is Similar To The Holocaust; The Holocaust Does Not Give Israel The Right To Destroy The Palestinian People

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca P. Albanese said in a January 8, 2024, interview aired on Alghad TV (Egypt) that what is happening today to the Palestinians is similar to the Holocaust. When the interviewer asked her whether the Palestinians are paying the price for the Holocaust, she responded that the Holocaust does not give the right to deny the Palestinians their lands and their homes and to "destroy the Palestinian people." Albanese was interviewed from Tunisia, and she spoke in English. The subtitles provided in this clip by MEMRITV are a translation of the Arabic voiceover aired on Alghad TV.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca P. Albanese: "As a European, I know that using this kind of language [used by some Israeli politicians] is extremely dangerous because it leads to perpetration of crimes, and it leads to justification of crimes. I have said many times that what happened in the Holocaust, and the persecution of the Jews people in Europe, and the genocide that happened, must not be repeated by Israel against others. This does not mean that we justify what happened in the Holocaust. They were oppressed, and we do not want to repeat this, because the level of humanity is the same, and they are people just like everyone else. What I am seeing today reminds me of that tragic experience."

Interviewer: "Am I right in understanding that you believe that the Palestinians today are paying the price for the Holocaust?"

Albanese: "I think that this is a very simplistic way to explain it, but in a way, what we need to understand is that this is similar to what happened in the Holocaust. We need to understand that the rights of the Palestinians are connected to the tragedy that happened in the past, in the Holocaust.

"The Holocaust was a disaster by any measure. Many Jews did not know where to go. However, this does not give them the right to deny the Palestinians their lands and their homes. I understand the law and the ruling mentality in Israel. They see Palestine as the Promised Land, which belongs to them, but this does not mean that they can destroy the Palestinian people."