Troup said she has received “extremely threatening and violent” messages from strangers who read Albanese’s report. “It’s definitely been a hindrance in fundraising. Some are questioning whether to publicly stand up for Israel. If I can be falsely named as complicit in crimes, can’t they be named as well? It makes one hesitate.”
The lawsuit comes as international calls to boycott and isolate Israelis in fields ranging from academia and science to sports and entertainment are escalating, and physical and verbal violence against Jews around the world is increasing.
Marc Zell, a member of the National Jewish Advocacy Center’s legal team that filed the lawsuit, said Albanese falsely accused the two nonprofits of war crimes and “genocide enabling” for their support of Israel.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a human rights watchdog organization, said Albanese has been waging “economic lawfare” against Israel for years. He called the lawsuit “an important step in showing that those who spread defamatory lies under a false U.N. banner, whipping up anti-Jewish hatred and violent attacks worldwide, will finally face accountability.”
Israel and the U.S. have long accused the U.N. of anti-Israel bias and, more recently, empowering Hamas, something U.N. officials deny. In a recent Fox News op-ed, Yair Lapid, a former Israeli prime minister and current leader of the parliamentary opposition, said “the U.N.’s treatment of Israel is the diplomatic equivalent of a psychotic episode. Israel makes up 0.1% of the world’s population yet accounts for more than 60% of the U.N.’s condemnatory resolutions in the past decade.”
Albanese has been regularly cited as among the most strident anti-Israel voices at the U.N., telling The Associated Press in June that Israel and its supporters have “also morphed into an economy of genocide.”
In July, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Albanese for waging an ongoing “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel. The measures ban Albanese, an Italian lawyer, from entering the United States and allow the U.S. to freeze assets she holds in the country.
Despite U.S. pressure, the U.N. renewed her six-year mandate. The lawsuit by the nonprofits, however, contends that Albanese’s diplomatic immunity ended on April 30, when her first term ended. Neuer agreed, saying the global body did not follow the proper procedure needed to extend her mandate, putting an end to her diplomatic immunity. “It is very clear that she was never lawfully reappointed,” he said. The U.N. has said that her immunity is still intact due to her reappointment.
The NGOs’ lawsuit is one of a growing number of legal challenges against perceived antisemitic or anti-Israel actions by private companies, public institutions and universities, especially since the Hamas massacre in October 2023 and subsequent Israel-Hamas war. Students at several American universities have sued their schools for discrimination, citing Title VI.
Griffioen believes it is more important than ever to support Israel. “It’s our job and responsibility as Christians to stand up for the truth, even if we’re the ones being attacked,” he said. “Our faith informs our decisions.”
This article originally appeared here.
