Francesca Albanese on ICC Sanctions, Gaza and Free Speech

I, I don't want to talk about me because the

sanctions about me are known, and the

sanctions about the ICC and, and the others are known.

Mm.

I wanna see that what happens to us happens because we

are denouncing

apartheid Israel-

Exactly

... and the system that enables it.

Yeah.

There is-- It, it, it's shocking, but it's, it's like if

apartheid was being globalized because I often talk

about the Israelization of our societies.

Here it is, security first.

Mm-hmm.

Going after civil society, accusing it of, uh, of,

of, um, uh, supporting terrorism, putting people in

jail. But you know what? There are so many Palestinians who have

undergone this. Uh, there are, uh...

I mean, today I was reading of someone, a, a Palestinian journalist

accused to be Hamas simply because he has, he has,

you know, uh, analyzed and, and shared information about

what was happening in Gaza, and including the comments.

It's so easy to accuse people of being Hamas without evidence.

Evidence based on secret evidence.

This is what's happening in our courts.

There is an Israelization of our society, of our societies,

which means that someone is being treated as Palestinians,

and having sanctions

mean being punished for having used something that even US

courts start recognizing as simple exercise of free-

of the First Amendment, freedom of, of expression.

It's, it's very sad. I'm really worried.

Do, do you know what people in Gaza tell me

that I know?

They're like, "Even if, if even the ICC and

Francesca Albanese are getting sanctioned for doing their

job, for doing their job, for up- trying to uphold international

law, how can Palestinians trust in

international law?"

But it's not international law. It's the s- the enforcement system

because I think that international law still offers us

a possibility to live in peaceful societies because international

law is what should, should perimeter and limit the

exercise of political power. Unfortunately, those who

ended up being our representatives

do not do that, do not do that, and even if Palestine is,

is, um,

sh- influencing the, the political landscape,

the enemies of, of, of, uh, uh, the,

the democratic space and freedom of expression are

always there. Here you have pressure groups

who- whose work seems to be only defending

apartheid Israel. The chilling effect of their very

presence-

Mm.

Mm

... is, is astounding. So we need to

show some spine, grow some spine, show some courage.