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Protests in London, Turin against Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza
Dolls splattered with a red solution to resemble blood are piled up in the San Federico Gallery in Turin, Italy to symbolise the thousands of Palestinian children killed by Israel’s military in Gaza
West Jerusalem protests demanding ceasefire in Gaza
Protesters called for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government
Israeli police intervene as demonstrators gather in West Jerusalem
‘I wonder how they manage to sleep at night’: UN special rapporteur on Palestinian rights
The UN’s Francesca Albanese has asked how many people, particularly in the West, “manage to sleep at night” with a genocide taking place in Gaza.
Commenting on being named UN person of the year by the PassBlue news organisation – which focuses on the UN – Albanese said that she had only responded as a “normal” person would when faced with a genocide.
“Like other accolades that I have received lately, speak not so much to my actions over the past 14 months – the normal opposition of a sentient human to a genocide – but rather to the silence of the many, particularly in the West, who should have spoken and acted against Israeli crimes and have chosen not to,” said Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestine territories.
Of those who had not spoken out, she said: “I wonder how they manage to sleep at night.”
Albanese received the award from PassBlue for her advocacy work over the last 14 months highlighting “widespread abuses such as forced displacement, unlawful killings and the denial of basic rights”, which form “reasonable grounds” to conclude that Israel is engaged in an ongoing genocide in Gaza, the media organisation said.
Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), was runner up as person of the year.
Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent observer at the UN, was named UN diplomat of the year.
This recognition, like other accolades that I have received lately, speak not so much to my actions over the past 14 months - the normal opposition of a sentient human to a genocide - but rather to the silence of the many, particularly in the West, who should have spoken and… https://t.co/43OYImsN0u
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) December 25, 2024
