Francesca Albanese calls Gaza situation “apocalyptic”
Albanese highlighted the systemic nature of oppression faced by Palestinians.
United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese has described the situation in Gaza as apocalyptic.
Addressing the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Sandton, Johannesburg, she highlighted the systemic nature of oppression faced by Palestinians.
“To invoke Mandela’s name is not to canonize him, but to awaken his unfinished struggle within each of us.” – Francesca Albanese (@FranceskAlbs), UN Special Rapporteur
Watch live here: https://t.co/AkdefM5vzx#NMAL2025 #MandelaLecture #GlobalCooperation pic.twitter.com/dlPnKuAHCC
— NelsonMandela (@NelsonMandela) October 25, 2025
RELATED VIDEO | UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivers Mandela Lecture
Albanese further says the occupation represents a wider subject of control.
“The occupation of Palestine must be understood as part of a broader project of domination. This is not merely about physical borders of historical Palestine,” says Albanese.
She says it is a systematic assertion of permanent supremacy that knows no border.
“One people controlling land, resources and the very existence of another or others, often without needing full physical presence or formal annexation. Palestinians are brutalised, dispossessed, and yet they resist,” she adds.
“If there is one thing I would like you to take from this lecture, it is this: whether recognised or not, accepted or not by those in power, the Palestinian struggle for freedom stands at the heart of the movement toward a truly decolonial world order”. – Francesca Albanese… pic.twitter.com/NKbXP5sq9q
— NelsonMandela (@NelsonMandela) October 25, 2025
Albanese also praised South Africa for its role in advancing justice, especially through its case at the International Court of Justice.
“This act has rekindled faith in international law, so thank you South Africa, as a symbolic restoration, a quiet revolution in the history of international law. In doing so, you prove again who you are, heirs of Nelson Mandela, in this conviction that justice must be lived, not merely spoken. In a few days, I will have the privilege to present my last report to the United Nations Assembly called Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime. I will do that from Cape Town,” says Albanese.
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