In a year of rising conflicts and deepening human rights emergencies, only one name shone out in the global debates of justice and peace: Francesca Albanese. The Italian human rights lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory has not only become a prominent voice for Palestinian citizens, but today she is also a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize candidate a gesture which generated support, backlash and worldwide discussion.
The nomination, backed by various human rights groups, scholars, and hundreds of thousands of citizens across the globe on a growing Change.org petition, reflects the impact of Albanese’s reporting of perceived war crimes and the challenging of the international community for not doing enough amid escalating violence in Gaza and the West Bank.
Francesca Albanese was elected to the UN position in 2022 and quickly built a reputation with sharp, fact-based analyses of Israeli policy in the occupied territories. Her reports typically drawn from international law, the Geneva Conventions, and UN resolutions have focused on disproportionate use of force, collective punishment, illegal settlements, and mass forced displacement.
In 2023 and 2024, as Israeli military crossings into Gaza intensified following the October 7 attack by Hamas, Albanese joined the leading UN figures in documenting what she described as “egregious violations of international humanitarian law”. Her ceasefire calls, blockade lifting, and accountability through the International Criminal Court (ICC) gained support from most people but also stirred fiery criticism from many Israeli and some Western politicians.
As of July 2025, a Change.org petition nominating Albanese for the Nobel Peace Prize has been signed by over 150,000 people, a sign of the public’s overwhelming support for her work. The petition calls her “a principled and courageous advocate for peace and justice in one of the world’s most protracted and politicized conflicts.”
Many of her supporters, especially in the Global South, view Albanese as a standout truth-speaker in an extremely polarized world of diplomacy. They argue that she is yielding the best of the United Nations a commitment to shared human rights, immune to political and geostrategic interests.
“Francesca Albanese is doing what the world’s most powerful governments have not been able to do: talk straightforwardly about civilian suffering,” one signatory wrote.
Her supporters mention precedent from previous Nobel Peace Prize recipients like Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, who were also attacked for upsetting established orders but ultimately praised for their crusade for justice.
Albanese’s outspokenness has also provoked scathing attacks, especially from pro-Israeli quarters and Western diplomats. From charges of bias and anti-Israeli propaganda to politicization of her post at the UN, attacks have also followed on the charge that she presents one-sided and trivialized reports and disregards Israeli security concerns.
In a 2024 release, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled Albanese’s reporting “deeply flawed and dangerous” as she “ignores the context of terrorism” and endangers the prospects of a balanced peace process.
Albanese, however, has stood her ground. In interviews and public statements, she has insisted her goal is to cover human rights violations in occupied Palestinian territories not adjudicate the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I am not against Israel. I am against occupation, colonization, and the denial of basic human rights,” she informed a Geneva Human Rights Council session this year.
A 2025 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Albanese would be among the most politically contentious in recent memory possibly rivaled only by Barack Obama’s in 2009 or Yasser Arafat’s jointly awarded prize with Yitzhak Rabin in 1994.
For Palestinians everywhere, a victory would be a victory for international validation of their decades-long fight for justice and dignity. For others, it would be a resounding affirmation of human rights-based foreign policy over the politics of might.
But the Nobel Committee has long practiced the art of balance between symbolism and tactics. Some analysts think the mere nomination is a statement strong enough in itself, no matter the end result.
Regardless of whether Francesca Albanese takes home the Nobel Peace Prize in December, her impact is undeniable. When the UN has been too frequently bogged down by geopolitics, her voice has cut through the noise, demanding the world pay attention to the human cost of occupation, displacement, and war.
She’s an inspiration to some and a lightning rod to others a nod to the fact that the truth does often lie at the middle of disagreement.
As the world watches Gaza, the West Bank, and the halls of the Nobel Committee in Oslo, one thing is certain: Francesca Albanese is not silencing herself nor are those who care most about justice.
Francesca Albanese: The UN Voice for Palestine and a Nobel Nomination Stirring Global Debate
