Israel lobby tries to block sale of Albanese’s new book

Pro-Israel lobbyists are trying to prevent the sale of Francesca Albanese’s new book, When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words, and Wounds of Palestine.

Francesca Albanese targeted by the pro-Israel lobby again

The so-called ‘National Jewish Advocacy Center’ (NJAC), rather than representing Jews as its name suggests, is a hardline pro-Israel lobbying and lawfare organisation. NJAC is run by Mark Goldfeder, a former Trump lawyer, former trustee of the Center for Israel Education and former adviser to Israel’s permanent mission to the UN.

Despite Goldfeder’s former role at the UN, NJAC tried to sue UN agency for Palestinians UNRWA and tried to have its tax-exempt status revoked. In May 2024, Goldfeder claimed that then-US president Joe Biden committed an impeachable offence by withholding even a tiny amount of military assistance from Israel.

NJAC has now demanded that Amazon block all payments connected to Francesca Albanese’s book, a collection of essays on Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip based on her experiences as the UN’s ‘special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories.

Special rapporteur positions are voluntary and unpaid. Albanese has fearlessly advocated for the rights of the Palestinian people and loudly condemned Israel’s slaughter of almost 700,000 people in Gaza, three quarters of them children.

Because of this, the US and pro-Israel groups tried to prevent her re-accreditation in 2025 but failed. The US then imposed sanctions on Albanese, along with at least one judge and other officials at the International Criminal Court – punishing them for doing their job instead of kowtowing to Trump and Israel.

‘Free speech’, apparently

NJAC is now using these sanctions to try to pressure Amazon into blocking the sale of Francesca Albanese’s book or withholding cash from it. In an announcement on X last week, Goldfeder said that:

Today we issued notice to Amazon and others about potential sanctions-violations connected to [Albanese’s] new book.

On 5 January, he added:

Under federal law, property and interests of Specially Designated Nationals are blocked and may not be transferred or paid out without specific authorization…

[Amazon] promotes and sells Ms. Francesca Albanese’s publications, directly enhancing her revenue and conferring a financial benefit.

Despite his attempted censorship, Goldfeder told the New York Post that he believes in free speech. NJAC is also suing Francesca Albanese in Colorado on behalf of far-right ‘Christian’ groups after Albanese included them in a report on organisations abetting genocide.

The Italian lawyer made light of NJAC’s threats, writing on X that NJAC “pro-Israel minions” were providing free advertising for her book, which is available in the UK from non-Amazon sellers for £25.99.

Featured image via the Canary