Selman Aksunger, Ilayda Cakirtekin
12 February 2025•Update: 12 February 2025
AMSTERDAM/ISTANBUL
Genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip risk being perpetrated in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the UN special rapporteur told Anadolu on Wednesday during her visit to the Church of Dominiscus in Holland.
“I warned the international community that genocidal acts that have been committed in the Gaza Strip are a risk to be committed in the West Bank,” said Francesca Albanese, who cited increased attacks by Israeli forces on Palestinians in the West Bank.
She said 830 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank from October 2023 to October 2024, and more than 300 were arrested or detained.
Albanese said most were ill-treated, tortured, and some even raped.
She added that Palestinians were killed in jails and Israeli soldiers documented what they did.
Albanese pointed to the fact that attacks from settlers were left unpunished, leaving many civil infrastructures destroyed and Palestinians abused.
“We should look at the totality of conduct in crimes against the totality of the people -- of the Palestinian people. As such, in the totality of the land, Israel has slated for territorial expansion, expanding Jewish sovereignty only,” she said, underlining the need to comprehend the genocide as a whole. “Even if you don’t conclude that this is genocide, doesn’t matter. There’s an obligation to prevent a genocide.”
Albanese, at an event held by Amsterdam University, emphasized that Palestine remains a colonial front and Israel's settler policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are part of a colonialist project.
She said international law, along with other disciplines, is shaped by colonial powers.
Albanese highlighted the International Court of Justice's ruling in the Nicaragua vs. Germany case states that arms transfers to states committing international law violations or genocide-related crimes may be unlawful.
She expressed the significance of lawsuits filed by European NGOs against governments, viewing them as crucial in holding states accountable for complicity in crimes against Palestinians through their support for Israel.
The Israel Information and Documentation Center, one of the leading organizations of the Israel lobby in the Netherlands, is conducting an intensive smear campaign to prevent Albanese from speaking at the Dutch House of Representatives.
Under pressure from the lobby, which claims that Albanese is “antisemitic,” the Dutch Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee decided to withdraw an invitation to Albanese.
Despite the developments, Albanese's visit to the Netherlands will include a series of speeches at universities and a meeting with lawmakers at the GroenLinks-PvdA party’s office.
