00:00Coming up, we'll be joined by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Reporter for the Occupied
00:05Palestinian Territories. She's in the headlines a lot lately. Recently, she stood accused of calling
00:10Israel the common enemy of humanity at a forum in Qatar. But as the transcript then of her speech
00:16later showed, she never made that comment. France is, however, calling for her resignation. We can
00:22take now a listen to the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Bajo.
00:27Enough with the fake news. I did not distort or shorten Mrs Albanese's comments. I simply
00:33condemn them because they are reprehensible and add to a long list of provocations, such
00:38as the justification of the 7th of October, the worst antisemitic massacre in our history
00:43since the Holocaust, in which 51 of our compatriots lost their lives. So yes, I said that these
00:49repeated provocations mean that she should have the dignity to resign.
00:55So Francesca Albanese, thank you so much for joining us this morning on Europe Today here
00:59on Euronews.
01:01Thank you. Thank you for having me.
01:03So you were listening there to Jean-Noël Bajo. How do you respond to the fact that the
01:08Foreign Minister of France is saying that you're not fit for the job?
01:14It's his opinion. It's the French's diplomacy's opinion. And I keep on asking them to respond
01:25to the content of my reports. It's already ludicrous that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs accuses
01:37me for something I never said. And then he's scratching the barrel in order to give his anger
01:45a meaning. And so he says, yeah, she didn't say that, but she's untenable anyway. But again,
01:53let's not make it about me. I've prepared and submitted to the UN seven reports which are damning.
02:01And also for France as a state and for some of French businesses, this is what his country,
02:09his government needs to respond to. And the fact that they had more scrutiny over something,
02:16I didn't say, that over the practices of a state accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity,
02:23and genocide is telling.
02:24But you've discussed the idea of the system. What do you mean? What is this system that you're
02:29criticizing? Oh, absolutely. But this is what I've documented in my last report. So in the
02:36economy of genocide, economy of occupation report, I said Israel would have not been able to displace,
02:43replace the Palestinians, as it did in the occupied Palestinian territory, hadn't it been for a network
02:48of private actors, businesses, and even universities, research centers, banks, pension funds, etc.
02:55And then in the next report, I documented 62 states, among whom France, who have provided
03:04political, strategic, military support to Israel, so as while he was committing crimes against the
03:11Palestinians. And this is the system. Impunity of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says kills.
03:17But you've said it's not about you, but we're reading more about you than about these documents.
03:21And Jean-Noël Barraud, you know, the foreign minister of a very important country, has said
03:25he's lost the confidence in you. Do you plan to resign?
03:32No, no, because I have the trust and of the Human Rights Council. I mean, again, the fact that it's
03:38about me, it's not something I can respond to. It's something that regards France, Italy, Germany,
03:45and the Czech Republic, who have gone after the French minister, amplifying the lie again. I, the reason
03:52why they're attacking me is a distraction, in order not to talk about my findings. So convenient, but also
04:00so hypocritical. And meanwhile, we've heard from the likes of Marco Rubio saying that the UN is obsolete.
04:06Lisa, what is your view here?
04:08Yeah, this is the thing. I've been saying that for years, that behind the assaults, for example,
04:15on UNRWA, and then on my mandate, and other parts of the human rights system, there was the beginning
04:22of a project, the dismantlement of the multilateral system, substituted, we see that now with the
04:29Board of Peace, with something else, which is more the expression of a new empire or an empire unveiled
04:37than multilateralism. But again, there is a movement that doesn't want it, and in fact,
04:42is pushing for a decolonized multilateralism. And this is what we have to work on.
04:48And what about the UN Security Council? Do you think it's a little bit obsolete?
04:52Well, I think that there are parts of the UN Security Council that are obsolete. One for all
04:58is the veto power. The veto power reflects the world order of the past century. We need the
05:04decolonized multilateralism where each state has one vote. And it's not about adding new members who
05:11can have a veto. It's about removing the veto.
05:14Okay, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Reporter there. Thank you so much for joining us here
05:18on Europe Today on Euro News.
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