Yesterday’s Associated Press story about UN-appointed rapporteur Francesca Albanese doesn’t list an author. But the piece might as well have been written by Albanese herself.
Although the headline, “Things to know about the UN special rapporteur sanctioned by the US,” suggests an unflinching look at the controversial anti-Israel activist, the piece that follows reads more like a cover letter drafted to promote Albanese’s qualifications and claims.
One subtle passage helps to show how AP puts Albanese’s best foot forward: “Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer…” It doesn’t seem notable, and in fact is exactly how Albanese had described herself. Until she didn’t. After an Italian professor raised questions about whether Albanese ever passed the bar exam, and after she was challenged by Vanity Fair, the rapporteur finally reversed course and admitted, “I am not a lawyer.”
AP’s soft-glove treatment of Albanese is clear even from the article’s subheadings. The first, above the false claim that the subject of the piece is a lawyer, simply states: “Prominent expert.” The second is a direct quote of one of Albanese’s anti-Israel charges: “‘Nothing justifies what Israel is doing.’” (A third subheading, “Member of a small group,” doesn’t telegraph quite as clearly the section’s deferential treatment.)
No subheading, by contrast, deals with criticism of the rapporteur. And this reflects the content of the piece itself. Of the story’s 834 words, 118 words are direct quotes from Albanese; only 25 are quotes from her critics. The piece might have been better titled, “What Albanese thinks of Albanese.”
It’s not for lack of criticism. There are, as noted, those US sanctions, the reasons for which were detailed by the Secretary of State:
Albanese has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries. Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute, making this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries.
AP’s profile ignored this charge. The U.S. statement also flagged Albanese’s “biased and malicious activities … that have long made her unfit for service as a Special Rapporteur.” AP’s profile ignored this charge, too. It continued that “Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West” (which AP at least did note) and charged her with making “extreme and unfounded” accusations (which AP did not quote).
Another Lopsided AP Piece
While the AP might defend itself by noting that, along with this profile, a separate article reported on the US sanctions, that piece hardly does better. It opened by deriding the sanctions as an “effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza.” It was only in the 8th paragraph, sandwiched between paragraphs of Albanese’s anti-Israel accusations and additional paragraphs quoting support for Albanese, that the author finally shared a sliver of the U.S. explanation for the sanctions. Incredibly, in a piece entitled “US issues sanctions against UN investigator probing abuses in Gaza,” this was the only paragraph to quote, paraphrase, or describe the American rationale for its sanctions.
Concealed Criticism
The criticism of Albanese goes well beyond what is detailed in the US sanctions. As the NGO UN Watch has thoroughly documented, the Biden administration has slammed Albanese, including for her “reprehensible and antisemitic” rhetoric, as did bipartisan members of Congress. Canada’s envoy for combatting antisemitism, like her US counterpart, expressed “horror” with Albanese. Canada’s UN delegation; the German foreign ministry and members of Parliament; the French foreign ministry, parliamentarians, and a legal association; the Dutch government; a Labour parliamentarian in the UK; Various EU lawmakers; the governments of Hungary and Argentina; the American Jewish Committee, World Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League; and other Jewish organizations across the globe have slammed Albanese’s bias and antisemitism, along with UN Watch itself.
That antisemitism includes her slur that “the Jewish lobby” has “subjugated” America and repeated Holocaust inversion. These were widely covered at the time, and even the New York Times, which often advocates for Israel’s critics, acknowledged the controversies in its coverage of the U.S. sanctions.
There are plenty of other examples of scandalous statements by Albanese, not least her rape denial; her endorsement of antisemites; her Oct 7 equivocation; her defense of Palestinian war crimes and war criminals; and her pattern of lies. That the Associated Press would engage in unbridled advocacy for Albanese — and that is what they clearly did in their two pieces — isn’t just a violation of journalistic norms. It is horrifying.