UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has accused Germany of trying to silence her for talking about Israel’s “genocidal war” in Gaza.
In a piece for Zeteo, she highlights that during her five-day trip to Germany, she was unable to deliver a series of lectures or attend debates about the ongoing conflict due to interference from pro-Israeli groups and Israeli and German officials.
“While I was aware of the challenges of discussing Palestine/Israel in Germany, I was expecting it to be not unlike my last visit in May 2024, when I … met with dozens of think tanks and civil society representatives eager to discuss my work,” Albanese wrote.
“But instead, my five-day visit descended into a chaotic trip full of harassment, cancellations, attacks on organisers, changing venues, and even threats of arrest over my comments.”
Albanese continued: “What I witnessed was a harsh deviation from democratic values and a troubling shrinking landscape for freedom of expression and other fundamental rights.”
