Writing on X, she said: “The victims of Oct 7 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France and the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims.”
France and Germany condemned the remarks. Albanese has since said she has repeatedly denounced Hamas’s crimes and rejected antisemitism.
Javier Bardem attends a screening during the 21st Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica, October 17, 2026 (Credit: Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images)Getty Images
Adam Ma’anit, a British-Israeli man whose relatives were killed in the Hamas massacre, told The Telegraph that the news about the award had made him “sick to my stomach”.
“After Hamas terrorists shot my cousin Tsachi’s daughter in the head, one said to her little sister that she was ‘with her God now’. Religion was most certainly on the minds of her murderers.
“My family were targeted because they were Jews living in their ancestral homeland. Amnesty honouring someone who justified their slaughter makes me sick to my stomach. This perverse ceremony needs to be stopped.”
Albanese has previously faced criticism over remarks made before her appointment to the UN role. In a 2014 Facebook post, she described the US as having been “subjugated by the Jewish lobby”. She also accused the BBC of having the “Israeli lobby” in its “veins and system”.
When challenged about the comments in 2022, she acknowledged using language that was “infelicitous, analytically inaccurate and un-intendedly offensive”.
Details of the ceremony were outlined in an email from Sylvie Brigot, Amnesty France’s executive director, who said this year’s recipients were being recognised for having “spoken out about the genocide in Gaza”.
Brigot also described the event as an opportunity to generate more support for Amnesty and reach major donors. She urged national directors to bring one or two significant donors to help secure financial backing for the organisation’s work.
Former home secretary, Dame Priti Patel, told The Telegraph: “For Amnesty, an alleged human-rights organisation, to celebrate such an individual is astonishing, and only confirms their own political and ideological bias.”
An Amnesty International spokesman told the paper: “Amnesty International supports the independent work of UN special procedures, including the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese.
“We stand with all those who face threats, intimidation, smear campaigns or unfounded attacks for documenting human-rights violations, seeking justice for victims, and working to prevent and end atrocity crimes.
“Attempts to discredit or silence those carrying out legitimate human-rights work undermine accountability and the protection of human rights.
“Amnesty International takes allegations of anti-Semitism very seriously. Anti-Semitism is antithetical to human rights and has no place within our organisation.
“Regarding the question about Amnesty’s Ambassador of Conscience award, we are only able to comment on events that have been formally communicated through Amnesty’s official channels.”
