On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Albanese of engaging in “political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel.” He announced the penalties.
Albanese, who is the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, has been a leading global voice for international action calling for an end to Israel’s human rights violations.
For years, Israel and its supporters have criticized Albanese and demanded that she be removed from her UN position.
She criticized European governments earlier on Wednesday for allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fly through their airspace while he is in Gaza, where he is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.
Every political action that violates the [international] legal order weakens and puts the lives of the Italian, French, and Greek citizens at risk. And of course, we’re all, Albanese wrote in a social media post.
Rubio cited Albanese’s demand for the ICC to prosecute Israeli officials as the legal justification for the sanctions.
In February, Trump had issued an executive order to punish ICC officials for “targeting” Israel.
Four ICC judges received sanctions from the Trump administration last month.
Rubio charged Albanese with anti-Semitism on Wednesday.
He said that bias has been present throughout her career, including when she suggested that the ICC issue arrest warrants for former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu without having a strong case against them.
The ICC charged Netanyahu and Gallant with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza for denying Palestinians in the enclave “objects that are essential to their survival, including food, water, and medicine.”
Rubio also brought up a recent report by Albanese that examined the role of foreign companies, including US ones, in the Israeli attack on Gaza, which she characterizes as a genocide.
The top US diplomat declared, “We will not tolerate these political and economic warfare campaigns that threaten our national security and sovereignty.”
Trump’s ICC decree forbids entry into the country for immediate-family members and freezes the assets of the targeted individuals in the US.
The sanctions against Albanese were described as “devastating,” according to Nancy Okail, the head of the Center for International Policy (CIP) think tank.
According to Okail, “Sanctioning a UN expert sends a message that the United States is acting like a dictatorship.”
This is behavior in a rogue state.
If you support the rule of law or any other form of international order, you can’t claim to support it.
You are on the side of dictators and war criminals when you punish those who violate the ICC or those who engage in its due process, even if you believe Netanyahu is innocent. https://t.co/aflPVyC6b3
Source: Aljazeera
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