UN’s Francesca Albanese slams US sanctions as retaliation for exposing Gaza war crimes
Fri 1:24 pm +00:00, 11 Jul 2025 1UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned US sanctions against her as “obscene” retaliation for exposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, telling Al Jazeera the move aimed to silence justice efforts.
She linked the sanctions to her report naming companies like Google profiting from Gaza’s destruction, insisting: “I want Google to stop supporting a government that killed 60,000 people.
” Despite visa bans potentially barring her from UN headquarters, Albanese prioritised Gaza’s crisis, noting the US-backed GHF had become a “death trap”, replacing proper humanitarian work.
Drawing parallels to murdered Italian anti-mafia judges, she warned: “These sanctions only work if people stay silent” – vowing to continue defending ICC investigations into Israel’s crimes.
“We stand at a historic reckoning,” she declared, her voice sharpening. “Either the world awakens to stop this disgrace, or we surrender to the mafia logic of power.”
With Gaza’s death toll rising as she spoke, Albanese’s defiance echoed her earlier warning: “The genocide continues while we talk.”
A.I. The quote “You know who controls you when you can’t criticize them” is often attributed to Voltaire, but it actually originated from Kevin Alfred Strom, an American neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier, in a 1993 radio broadcast.
The quote was later misattributed to Voltaire, leading to widespread confusion and misuse.
Strom’s original wording was, “To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?”.
Despite its origin, the quote has been frequently cited and shared online, often without proper attribution.
The misattribution has led to debates about the importance of acknowledging the true source of a quote, especially when it comes from someone with controversial views.