Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez honored Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on Palestine , on Thursday, in a display of solidarity as she faces sanctions from the United States over her outspoken advocacy against Israel 's genocide in Gaza .
Citing her work to document human rights violations over more than two years of conflict, Sánchez awarded Albanese the Order of Civil Merit, a knighthood granted to Spanish and foreign citizens for extraordinary services benefiting the state or society.
'Public responsibility... entails the moral obligation not to look the other way,' Sánchez said in a social media post. 'It is an honor to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice that upholds the conscience of the world: Francesca Albanese.
'Earlier this week, Sánchez petitioned the European Commission to intervene to stop compliance with the Trump administration's efforts to punish Albanese, as well as members of the International Criminal Court who have brought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Albanese, an Italian legal scholar, has held the role of special rapporteur since 2022, a year before Israel launched a war in Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
Human rights organizations and UN experts have described Israel's assault as a genocide. In March 2024, Albanese released the UN's first major public report, making the legal case that there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe a genocide was being committed, referring to a litany of statements by Israeli officials establishing intent to destroy the Palestinian population.
In addition to documenting Israel's actions, she has published research demonstrating the 'complicity' of nations that supply weapons and other support to Israel in what she has called a “collective crime' that they should also face responsibility for. According to official estimates, at least 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, many of them women and children, while independent analyses suggest the death toll is much higher, in part due to the near-total destruction of health and other public infrastructure.
Many of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed by over two years of relentless bombings, leaving most of its 2.1 million people displaced and living in tent cities. Albanese told a Spanish broadcaster that the US and other nations attempting to punish her and other international authorities for speaking out against atrocities in Gaza were 'like an international mafia.
''They want to silence everyone who demands an end to genocide, an end to the crimes,” she said.
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