The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, was featured in an article titled “Israel’s war in Gaza and the specter of ‘genocide’” by Washington Post columnist Ishaan Tharoor on October 27, 2022. Tharoor’s piece examines the claim that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas is equivalent to genocide as presented by some of its critics. However, the article is critiqued for being biased and propagating misleading assertions.

Tharoor’s article refers to a group of UN special rapporteurs who accused Israel of war crimes and warned of the risk of genocide. Among these experts is Francesca Albanese, who has previously been criticized for posting antisemitic content on social media. The article also mentions Michael Fakhri, a BDS supporter, who signed a petition supporting the Palestinian struggle against Israel. Tharoor echoes the allegations of these UN experts while criticizing Israel’s military actions.

The article fails to acknowledge Hamas’ use of civilian infrastructure to conceal and support its terror operations. It highlights that Israel’s attempts to avoid collateral damage caused by Hamas’ tactics are not akin to genocide. Additionally, Tharoor compares Israel’s actions in Gaza to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which is considered a simplistic and superficial analysis.

The article selectively quotes individuals critical of Israel while ignoring opposing voices against the accusations of genocide. This bias in the reporting could mislead readers into concluding that Israel is guilty of ethnic cleansing in Gaza.