US reimposes sanctions on anti-Israel UN rapporteur week after dropping them |
The United States on Wednesday reimposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza who has been bitterly critical of Israel, after an appeals court overruled an earlier order prohibiting the action.
A notice on the Treasury Department’s website showed that it had reimposed a sanctions designation on Albanese that blacklists her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions.
Albanese, an Italian national who has long been accused of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric against Israel, was sanctioned by the Trump administration last year for alleged “political and economic warfare” against the US and Israel. As a United Nations special rapporteur, she has recommended that the International Criminal Court pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals.
Early last week, the US removed Albanese from its list of sanctioned individuals after a federal judge temporarily blocked the sanctions, finding that US President Donald Trump’s administration likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures.
But on Friday, an appeals court issued an administrative stay on the federal judge’s earlier ruling while the court considers the merits of the case.
The case was brought by Albanese’s husband,........