“International law is clear: States must neither aid nor assist in the internationally wrongful acts of others, and must prevent & punish international crimes." New report “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime"

Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967

 

United Nations Geneva

 

@UNGeneva

 

Independent human rights expert  @FranceskAlbs: “International law is clear: States must neither aid nor assist in the internationally wrongful acts of others, and must prevent & punish international crimes." New report “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime": https://buff.ly/4o4gZ3k

 

 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/gaza-genocide-crime-israel-did-not-commit-alone-says-special-rapporteur

Gaza genocide: A crime Israel did not commit alone, says Special Rapporteur

28 October 2025

CAPE TOWN - Israel’s genocide in Gaza is part of an international system of complicity, a UN expert warned today.

“International law is clear: States must neither aid nor assist in the internationally wrongful acts of others, and must prevent and punish international crimes,” Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 told the General Assembly. “This requires immediately suspending all military, economic, and diplomatic ties with Israel until its crimes cease, and pursuing justice for the survivors by holding perpetrators and accomplices accountable.”

Albanese addressed the General Assembly from Cape Town, South Africa — after US sanctions prevented her from presenting her report in New York.

The Special Rapporteur’s new report, “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime,” reveals how influential Third States — with the acquiescence of many others — have provided diplomatic, military, economic and ideological support to Israel, entrenching, rather than dismantling Israel’s settler colonial apartheid, now turned genocidal.

“No State can credibly claim to uphold international law while arming, supporting, or shielding a genocidal regime,” Albanese said.

The report shows how Third States are breaching their duty to prevent genocide, apartheid, and territorial conquest by supplying Israel with aid, arms, and political cover despite clear evidence of genocidal intent. Citing rulings from the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, Albanese said that the world has been on notice since at least 2004 — yet impunity has only deepened.

“States knew. States had the means to act,” the Special Rapporteur said. “International law does not allow the luxury of feigned ignorance, delay or rhetorical acrobatics.”

Instead, the report claims, States have obscured, ignored, and even profited from Israel’s violations of international law, through military, economic, diplomatic and even “humanitarian” channels.

Albanese’s report showed how military cooperation—through arms trade and intelligence sharing—has fuelled Israel’s war machine including during the genocide. While the US and Germany alone have provided over 90 per cent of Israel’s arms imports, at least 26 States have supplied or facilitated arms and components, and many others bought weapons tested on Palestinians.

“Trade and investment have sustained—and profited from—Israel’s economy,” the Special Rapporteur said. Between 2022 and 2024, exports of electronics, pharmaceuticals, energy, minerals, and dual-use items, totalling $474 billion, helped Israel finance its military operations. About one-third of this trade is with the EU, while North America and several Arab States continue deepening economic ties.... READ MORE  https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/gaza-genocide-crime-israel-did-not-commit-alone-says-special-rapporteur

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES & QUOTES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

 

 

"Francesca Albanese strives for impartiality and inclusiveness. She emphasizes that true impartiality cannot be either ignorance or indifference. Instead, it involves objectively investigating facts through the lens of international law and recognizing and addressing - instead of denying or ignoring - underlying power imbalance or historical injustices. Her focus is on achieving rights and freedoms, including through justice and accountability, for all involved. “Resolving the Question of Palestine, or the ‘Israeli/Palestinian conflict’ in line with international law - she say - is not complicated, but it requires reigour to follow what is just: ending the genocide, the unlawful occupation of what remains of Mandate Palestine, and then, ending apartheid, for both Palestinians and Israelis - so they will be able to leave in freedom and peace int he land they both all home”..."   https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-palestine/francesca-albanese

Dear America- Stand up for international law and Human Rights, not the weapons industry.

letter I just sent to my elected leaders

Dear America,

Israel with all its pretty propaganda enriches some, but impoverishes many many more, triggering injustice and suffering every where it can reach, including right into America, robbing US blind.

Robbing US of real democracy and equality- robbing US of free speech and our fourth estate, robbing US of civilized and well informed dialogue, robbing US of funds needed for human beings, for our children and schools and the environment... robbing US of goodness and grace. Robbing US of respect and a decent future.

Zionism inspires religious extremism & corruption worldwide. No one is safe.  No one is secure.

For every one's sake please stop trusting Israel. Stop funding Israel. Stop arming Israel. Stop excusing Israel. AND stop duplicating the propaganda of a very foreign country that is in flagrant and long term violation of international law.

STOP ignoring racist Israel's intentional and systematic destruction of Palestinian families, homes, communities and jobs.  Start a better way forward towards a just and lasting peace & progress by saying NO to trigger-happy Israel and NO TO WAR!

Fund UNRWA and true compassion, not the killing zone scheme of Israel's "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation."

Because as Volker Turk warns, “The current trajectory of escalating conflict and disregard for human rights is indefensible.” 

Stand up for international law and Human Rights, not the weapons industry. 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

Israel VS Iran ... Israel's nuclear weapons - up to 400* VS Iran's nuclear weapons 0 [ZERO!]

"The Iraq playbook is back & the media won't question it. Iraq has no nuclear weapons. Israel- on trial for genocide- does. Iran signed the NPT & allows IAEA inspections. Israel hasn't- & its leaders face ICC arrest warrants.... BEWARE OF POLITICIANS BEATING THE DRUMS OF WAR

"Israel is a nuclear-armed state, with one of the most advanced military’s in the world, funded and armed by the U.S., that started a war of aggression with Iran and is committing genocide in Gaza… And the BBC makes it sound like they’re William Wallace resisting the English." Assal Rad

"Dekel also credits Abdoh with helping spark her interest in the larger story surrounding the Tehran children, including the Jewish community's ancient roots in Iran and the remarkable humanitarianism of a Muslim nation accepting Jewish refugees in the Nazi era, when so many countries were turning them away."

NEW YORK, 15 June 2025 – “This weekend’s surge in violence across the Middle East signals a dangerous escalation. Children are once again paying the ultimate price. Since Friday, an intense military escalation in the region has seen strikes on Iran and Israel hit residential areas, killing and injuring civilians – including children – and causing damage to civilian infrastructure. Beyond the death toll, this alarming escalation creates widespread fear and trauma among children in all communities. UNICEF strongly condemns all forms of violence against children. Our thoughts are with all the families and communities mourning this tragic loss of life. We reiterate the Secretary-General's call for all sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation the region and its children cannot afford. UNICEF urgently calls on all parties to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure the protection of civilians, in particular children. All children have the right to live without the threat of war and violence...." UNICEF for every child

The United Nations 2025 ACT NOW for a peaceful world: Did you know that the world spent $2.4 trillion on its militaries or that the global economic cost of violence was nearly $20 trillion in 2023?

"There are no bomb shelters in Gaza. There are no sirens. And there is no emergency alert app on our phones. And if there was one, there is no phone signal or internet connect most of the time. And there is hardly any electricity to charge our phones. The only shelters we have been running into and living in are schools and hospitals. But even those have been bombed constantly and our families were burnt alive in front of our eyes. Even the areas that were designated as "non-combat zones" got bombed. We live there in tents without access to water or food or clothes." Mosab Abu Toha

‘They just see you as an Arab’: Israel’s Palestinian citizens given cursory protection from attack. Deaths of four family members sheltering in supposed ‘safe rooms’ in Tamra highlight racial inequality of Israel’s defence of its citizens

Israel's attack on Iran: "It’s all looking very Gaza-like: escalation with no end; or regime change with no plan." Nesrine Malik in The Guardian

"Killings & wars will breed more wars & bloodshed. Civilians will always suffer first & suffer most. Political will, leadership & courage are overdue & needed more than ever. It's time for long lasting peace in Gaza & across the region." Philippe Lazzarini

In Tel Aviv, rescue teams use advanced equipment, sniffer dogs, and heavy machinery to save those trapped under rubble. In Gaza, civil defense workers and neighbors dig with bare hands, without fuel or tools, because Israel blocks the entry of life-saving equipment. Many victims in Gaza die slowly, not from the initial bombing, but from suffocation, hunger, or thirst beneath the ruins.

It Being Sunday ... a 2025 poem by Anne Selden Annab

It being Sunday

in a land with many churches

I pray that prayers for peace 

rise up, rise up to sway

people away from war.

Away from bombing children,

pulverizing families,

and homes ... and jobs.

Away from generating enemies.

Away from creating poverty, starvation, suffering...

Might does not make right

nor does armed resistance.

Scorn violence!

We live in an age of computers- the internet

an endless feed of personal truths at our fingertips

with the power of fair and just laws

able to shape a better way forward

for all of humankind.

 

***

Laila El-Haddad & Mosab Abu Toha both win the JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD 2025 for their essays on Gaza ... "We Palestinians win, with or without recipes..."

CSM: In Gaza, Palestinians wonder: Is it worth braving bullets to find food?

Israeli attacks on educational, religious and cultural sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, UN Commission says

Reporter: “Why do you think so many countries and governments around the world are just ignoring what’s happening in Gaza?” Greta Thunberg: “Because of racism.”

Antisemitic and Islamophobic violence is rising in the United States. Both must stop: We have a duty to call out antisemitism when we see it. We also have an equal duty to remember that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are also being targeted

Let's use the best tool we have: EDUCATION against ignorance, prejudice, hatred, genocide

More journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza than in most major wars combined.

The MATH of modern GENOCIDE & the US weapons industry.

"The Holocaust did not start with gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes, and prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanisation and escalatin violence" Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau

Building a Culture of Peace ...

"The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." ~Dag Hammarskjöld, second Secretary-General of the United Nations

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

James J. Zogby: What investment and freedom would have meant for Gaza

 "Yasser Arafat, speaking of Gaza’s future, would say that with investment and freedom from occupation it could become Singapore; if denied both, it could become Somalia. Israel did everything it could to guarantee that Gaza would become Somalia—and they appear to have succeeded."

James J. Zogby- president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute, "

What investment and freedom would have meant for Gaza

Mar 18,2025 - Last updated at Mar 18,2025

When I first heard President Donald Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” scheme, it brought back memories of Palestinian hopes three decades ago during the heyday of the Oslo Accords. Back then, I was serving as co-chair of “Builders for Peace,” a project launched by Vice President Al Gore to encourage American businesses to invest in the Palestinian economy to support the fledgling peace process.

My fellow co-chair, Mel Levine, and I led a number of delegations of American business leaders (including Arab Americans and American Jews) to the Palestinian lands. Our first exposure to the problems we would encounter came as we attempted to enter via the Allenby Bridge from Jordan. American Jews and others passed easily, while Arab Americans were separated from the group and forced to undergo humiliating screening.

We convened a session in Jerusalem for Palestinians to meet with Americans interested in investment opportunities, but to enter the city Palestinians had to secure a pass from the occupation authority. The passes only permitted them a few hours in the city, limiting the time they could devote to our discussions.

Entry into and exit from Gaza was equally problematic. One deeply disturbing scene on leaving Gaza has stayed with me. Hundreds of Palestinian men filled what I can only describe as cattle chutes, waiting in the sun for permission to enter into Israel. Straddling these chutes were young Israeli soldiers shouting at the Palestinians below to look down and hold their passes above their heads.

Our meetings with Palestinian business leaders in Gaza and the West Bank were hopeful. They were eager to discuss possibilities with their American counterparts, and the Americans were impressed. A number of partnerships were discussed.

Two projects were notable: one to manufacture leather products, another to assemble furniture. Both sought to take advantage of Gaza’s proximity to Eastern Europe for export. As both projects required that Israel permit import of raw material and export of finished products, both failed. It appeared that Israel might have been willing to entertain such projects, but only if they operated through an Israeli middleman, thereby reducing the ventures’ profitability.... READ MORE   https://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/james-j-zogby/what-investment-and-freedom-would-have-meant-gaza

   [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine ]

Diplomats urge EU to block Jerusalem settlements

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

http://news.yahoo.com/diplomats-urge-eu-block-jerusalem-settlements-142035564.html

By KARIN LAUB | Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Nearly two dozen European diplomats have urged the EU to intensify efforts to block Israeli settlement in and near Jerusalem, saying such construction on occupied lands is the "single biggest threat" to a Mideast peace deal, according to an internal report Wednesday.

The diplomats also said the EU must ensure that aid to Israel and preferential trade agreements don't inadvertently benefit settlements, according to the report obtained by The Associated Press.

They recommended that the EU "prevent, discourage and raise awareness" of direct investments by European companies in [Israeli] settlements ...READ MORE

This Week in Palestine... INVESTMENT

Message from the Editor

Come the New Year, we start with “Investment,” a matter that requires sound, comprehensive research. For a place like Palestine, sort of country, sort of occupied, sort of independent, sort of heavily reliant, the topic can be tricky. Indeed, the situation in Palestine is complex. Nonetheless, we have taken a more traditional approach to investment and examined it from an economic and business point of view, while highlighting various social, cultural, and political dimensions.

Covering investment in Palestinian goods, Arda Mardirossian Shamshoum enlightens us with her article, “Taking the Liberty.” Tom Speechly, partner in The Abraaj Group, writes about, “Private Equity in Palestine.” An article from Elisabeth Koek, a legal researcher at Al-Haq, describes water conditions in Palestine and their effect on the Palestinian economy and agriculture. Hashim Shawa, our personality of the month, explores the “Start-up Generation,” while Laila Kaiksow discusses the importance of investing in public spaces for our children. 

Other articles include a contribution from Sabri Saidam about information technology, Ali Qleibo on “Investing in Palestinian Culture,” and Nora Lester Murad takes the theme from a community perspective. A special piece by Ayat Wael Kanaan titled, “Ultimate Endurance,” will surely touch your hearts, in addition to input from other writers who have enriched the issue. Finally, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable read and a prosperous 2013, as a result of wise investment choices!

In peace,
 Manar Harb
Content Editor

• Start-up Generation
  By Hashim Shawa

 
• Private Equity in Palestine
  By Tom Speechley

 
• Five Guaranteed Ways to Profit from Investment in the Palestinian Community
  By Nora Lester Murad

 
• Investing in Palestine … Palestine of Opportunities
  Courtesy of Palestine Exchange (PEX)

 
• Investing in Palestinian Culture Heritage, Agriculture, and Ecotourism
  By Dr. Ali Qleibo

 
• Investing in Palestinian Water
  By Elisabeth Koek

 
• HappyPalestine.com A Journey in the Making!
  By Sabri Saidam

• Artist of the Month
  Bashir Makhoul

 
• Book of the Month
  Occupation Diaries

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Points of Departure

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Jericho – Beyond the Celestial and Terrestrial

 
• Personality of the Month
  Hashim Shawa

 
• Picturesque Palestine
  Picturesque Palestine

Doura Al Qare