The Trump regime has filed an emergency appeal to try to overturn a court ruling blocking its punitive sanctions on UN rights and international law expert Francesca Albanese. The US had targeted Albanese, as well as International Criminal Court judges and lawyers, with heavy sanctions because of their pronouncements on Israel’s genocide and other crimes in Gaza.
For now, the US Treasury has been forced to lift the sanctions in response to the court order. However, the Trump administration is trying to overturn the ruling. Justice Department assistant attorney general Brett Shumate said on X that her department is applying for “emergency relief” to restore the sanctions. She also claimed that:
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has undermined the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
None of which is a crime for an Italian, of course, but it illustrates the extent of US arrogance and entitlement, especially in connection with the Israeli colony.
The US government’s application claims that the district court’s injunction is “fundamentally flawed” and that “foreign citizens outside US territory do not possess rights under the US Constitution”. Foreign citizens outside the US are also not obliged to defer to US “national security and foreign policy”, of course, but presumably that’s a hair Trump is not willing to split.
Trump war on free speech
US district judge Richard Leon ruled last week that the Trump administration was violating Albanese’s free speech rights by sanctioning her for criticizing Israel’s genocide. The US government has removed the sanctions but claimed that this “does not reflect a change in policy”. A State Department spokesperson said the sanctions will be immediately reimposed if the appeal court overturns the injunction.
Albanese was sanctioned for writing a report that corporations supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Giant companies accused include Palantir, Amazon and Microsoft. The sanctions left Albanese and other victims unable to hold bank accounts or credit cards.
The sanctions prohibited Albanese from entering the US, accessing US banking and payment systems, and engaging in business with anyone based in the country. The US Israel lobby has also tried to block the sale of Albanese’s new book highlighting its crimes in occupied Palestine. She was honoured in early May 2026 by the Spanish government for her service to humanity.
Featured image via Getty/Evan Vucci-Pool













The United Nations has done NOTHING for Palestinians for the last three years. They have tacitly enabled genocide.
They have done Israel’s bidding throughout, and taken $20 000 000 per year (total $60 000 000+) for delaying the ICJ verdict, not putting peacekeepers in, not doing anything real to prevent ongoing mass slaughter and approving the colonial board of peace plan.
Albanese is arguably even worse than Trump and the Israelis because SHE KNOWS she’s running cover for an illusionary system. Most of the others are just knee-jerk brainless psychopathic pigs.
The United Nations is an illusion, a farce, a veneer of civilisation which exists in order to enable the corpo/MIC-political genocidal systems which all you fucking mugs lap up daily.
Stop falling for the illusions. Engage your brains.
The UN is toothless and virtually useless, no question. However to blame Albanese and to claim she is worse than Trump and Israel is either rank stupidity or a complete lack of understanding.
She’s running cover for the UN. The UN has tacitly approved the genocide. I know this is complicated for you dullards who need BAD/GOOD kneejerks, but the fact is that the UN is an illusion of civilisation designed to mug off fools like you into thinking someone cares about human rights, when all their actions prove the oppostite/
When Albanese resigns, stops doing famine-lunches, announces her net worth and how many millions she’s made from reporting the genocide, and starts actually calling out why the UN has taken over $60 million from Israel during the course of their mass murder campaign, then she’ll be worth something.
Until then she’s a deceiver and a propagandist who is employed to fool silly old middle aged lefty journos. And the only moron with rank stupidity around here is you Andy. So stfu or put up an argument. You can’t because everything I’ve said here is truth.
What your solution? Shoot the messenger? The UN is compromised and rendered impotent because of the veto by the five permanent members, one of whom is in the pocket of Israel. Without people like Abanese, you wouldn’t even be aware of the genocide in Gaza. Be more respectful.
Her message is, stating the obvious while the organisation she works for perpetuates the problem.
She’s part of an insidious geopolitical system, entirely owned by capital, which pretends to care for Human Rights while it slaughters onwards with impunity. Albanese is intelligent enough (unlike you) to know exactly what she’s running cover for.
The solution for Albanese is in the post above.
Resign from the UN and stop doing PR for it.
Call out the UN for its tacit approval of, and complete inaction on, the genocide in Gaza.
Stop concealing your net worth (which proves she’s made millions from a genocide).
The solution for the UN is get rid of it. Guterres could have taken action on Gaza in various ways, whether it be using the security council or not. He didn’t.
I don’t need some deceitful PR girl to tell me about a genocide, when I can read.
So fuck you and fuck your respectful and fuck the UN.
One thing that is really needed is for Albanese to receive the Nobel peace prize for her work under terrifying intimidation.
The Nobel Prize is hardly a bastion of credibility. The committee hands it out to war criminals and coup plotters.
Quite agree. Albanese has put her neck on the line for Palestine…it’s ridiculous to slag her off
No she hasn’t. The Freedom Flotilla has. Albanese has been doing famine lunches and getting rich.
She’s a PR girl for the UN. The UN is an illusion of human rights.
Are you people retarded?