Three Top Belgian Universities Spark Outrage by Honoring Controversial UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Three Belgian universities sparked outrage within the local Jewish community this week by announcing plans to award honorary doctorates to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has an extensive history of using her role to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas attacks against the Jewish state.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Ghent University, and the University of Antwerp — three of Belgium’s top-ranked institutions — are expected to award Albanese honorary doctorates in April, recognizing “the importance of [her] contributions, which are deemed of undeniable significance.”
The honorary doctorate recognizes Albanese’s “exceptional commitment to the protection of human rights and the strengthening of international law,” the three universities wrote in a joint statement.
Herwig Leirs, rector of the University of Antwerp, praised Albanese for her “determination in publishing truthful reports on the condition in the occupied Palestinian territories, with particular focus on Gaza in recent years.”
In the months following the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Albanese accused the Israeli government of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli actions.
On Monday, Jewish leaders across Belgium joined in condemning this latest decision, with both the French-speaking Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCJOB) and the Flemish-speaking Forum of Jewish Organizations (FJO) calling for the honor to be revoked.
“This sends the wrong message to students and is in no way an example of academic integrity or ethics,” FJO wrote in a statement on Monday.
“Her repeated comparisons of Israel to the Nazis are perceived as Holocaust trivialization and antisemitic under the IHRA definition, and the US government also labels it as such,” the statement reads.
Le CCOJB se joint au Forum des organisations juives (FJO) dans la contestation du titre de docteur honoris causa décerné à Francesca Albanese.
— CCOJB (@ccojb) January 20, 2026
Since taking on the role of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories in 2022, Albanese has been at the center of controversy due to what critics, including US and European lawmakers, have described as antisemitic and anti-Israel public remarks.
Last year, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) faced intense pressure to block Albanese’s reappointment for another three-year term, with several countries and NGOs urging UN members to oppose the move due to her controversial remarks and alleged pro-Hamas stance.
Despite significant pressure and opposition, her mandate was confirmed to extend until 2028.
In her long history of antisemitic remarks, Albanese has referred to a “Jewish lobby” controlling America and Europe, compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and stated that Hamas’s violence against Israelis — including rape, murder, and kidnapping — needs to be “put in context.”
Last year, the United Nations launched a probe into Albanese for allegedly accepting a trip to Australia funded by pro-Hamas organizations.
In the past, she has also celebrated the anti-Israel protesters rampaging across US college campuses, saying they represent a “revolution” and that they give her “hope.”