Israel's defenders
The first of these challenges, she says, was that the fight for Palestinian rights was no longer newsworthy after 30 years, even though Palestine was still the site of a bitter struggle for justice, the rule of law, and legitimacy.
Additionally, says Albanese, power dynamics could limit the conversation. "Two months after my appointment, I experienced, first-hand, the impossibility of discussing the Palestinian issue despite my strict legal approach," she says.
Opponents of ethics guided by the rule of law often resort to hostility to defend Israel's policies, as Albanese found on 6 July when she was invited by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies to report on her work.
Committee head Piero Fassino (from the Democratic Party, formerly a Communist) criticised her for not presenting a neutral, "third party" perspective.
Albanese recalls that she focused solely on this duty during the hearing. Still, Fassino, "who was clearly upset by the fulfilment of my institutional responsibilities, went as far as attributing statements to me that implied the legitimisation of violence".
The AltreEconomia magazine promptly proved that Albanese had never made such statements.
"They examined my original statements, in which I condemned the cycle of violence perpetuated by the occupation, which Mr. Fassino had taken out of context."
She added that Fassino "downplayed the crucial role of international law in resolving conflicts, despite it being integral to the principles of the United Nations".
As Edward Said reminds us, she said, "We cannot fight for our rights until we are armed with weapons of criticism and dedicated consciousness".
Read more: Revisiting the legacy of Edward Said, the voice of the Palestinian cause in the West
She said her role was, in part, to facilitate a "healthy, pluralistic, and well-informed debate on the Palestinian issue" and that she would continue to do so.
Yet regardless of the historical and political interpretations of the conflict and its origins, "the debate should start from the guiding force of international law — the only viable path amidst the obfuscation imposed by realpolitik for over a century".
Facing flak
During a recent visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, Albanese was at the centre of a media controversy and accusations of antisemitism.
Israeli newspaper Times of Israel reviewed her social media posts up to 2014 and found one in which she mentioned how the "Jewish lobby" subjugates American policy to cover up Israel's violations.
Albanese later clarified that she used the term "Jewish lobby" in a 2014 appeal to the archbishop of her hometown's Christian diocese to raise funds for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), where she worked.
This appeal was lodged during Israel's military attack on Gaza in 2014, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, including 550 children.
It was in the context of her criticism of how Europe and America remained "on the sidelines" as this war unfolded that she made a mention of the influence of the "Jewish lobby" in the United States.
She was accused of antisemitism. Not true, she said, adding that the criticism was to discredit her work as Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied territories.
"The intention was to vilify me and my mandate, to invalidate my reports," she said.
"It's not only a matter of Palestinian rights. Dismantling the colonial structure established by Israel in the Palestinian territories it has occupied for 55 years would enhance security and living conditions for both Palestinians and Israelis. Both would benefit."
