The complicated life of Francesca Albanese: A rising figure in Italy but barred from every bank by Trump's sanctions

"The life of Italian legal scholar Francesca Albanese, who has been the U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 2022, began to change this summer on the day she presented her report From the Economy of Occupation to the Economy of Genocide, in which she accused major corporations of being complicit in Israel's offensive in Gaza. She had already received threats after her March report, Anatomy of a Genocide, but this time it was different."

"Six days later, on July 9, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the sanctions imposed in February on judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, would also be applied to her. The accusation against Albanese was precisely that she had cooperated with the ICC and posed a threat to the global economy."

"Albanese, 48, was already known as one of the clearest and most forceful voices denouncing human rights violations in Gaza, but she was not widely known among the general public in Italy. From that moment on, coinciding with the launch of the Global Sumud humanitarian flotilla which received broad support in the country she began to gain widespread popularity. She appeared daily on television and at public events, but at the same time her private life became unbearable."

"Her visa was revoked, and she is barred from entering the United States for example, she cannot go to the U.N. to present one of her two annual reports; the other is delivered in Geneva. Above all, all her assets were frozen, including her bank account and her apartment in the United States, even though she now lives in Tunisia."

Francesca Albanese, an Italian legal scholar and U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 2022, presented a report accusing major corporations of complicity in Israel's Gaza offensive. She received threats after a March report, and following the July presentation U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions. The measures extended February sanctions tied to ICC arrest warrants and alleged she cooperated with the ICC and threatened the global economy. Her visa was revoked, she is barred from the United States, her U.S. assets were frozen, and she was blacklisted from international banking while living in Tunisia. She gained popularity in Italy amid the Global Sumud flotilla.

Read at english.elpais.com