“Is it possible after 42,000 people have been killed, you cannot empathize with the Palestinians?,” Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, asked, with force and incredulity, as she addressed the U.N. Human Rights Committee on Palestinian Rights, following the presentation of her new report, Genocide as colonial erasure this past week, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, in New York. She spoke of her “shock” at such indifference.
She continued: “Those of you who have not uttered a word about what is happening in Gaza demonstrate that empathy has evaporated from this room and empathy is the glue which makes us stand united as humanity.” In an afterthought, she retorted: “But don’t worry, you can continue and you will become more, and more, irrelevant to the rest of the world, which is in turmoil. And it’s not just the global South. Look at the young people in Europe, in western countries, those to whom many of you, including my own country and Germany and France and the UK are demonstrating that human rights are good to be taught in schools and universities, but don’t dare you trying to exercise freedom of assembly and freedom of expression in your street. All the more for Palestine, all the more touching our ally, Israel. This is what you are telling young generations.”
