Francesca Albanese, told an audience at the University of Cape Town on Monday evening that universities, corporations and states have a legal and ethical responsibility to halt what she described as genocide taking place in Gaza. (Nelson Mandela Foundation)
The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, told an audience at the University of Cape Town on Monday evening that universities, corporations and states have a legal and ethical responsibility to halt what she described as genocide taking place in Gaza.
The event — Liberation and the Academy: The Role of Universities in the Struggle for Palestine — was organised by the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance.
It came a day before Albanese presents her latest report, Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime, to the UN General Assembly via livestream from Cape Town.
Albanese said her report identifies 48 companies and institutions linked to “displacement and replacement”, a policy she argues has removed Palestinians from their land and enabled the expansion of Israeli settlements.
These include technology firms, defence contractors, agribusiness and water infrastructure companies.
“There is not one business that comes to mind that is not involved,” she said.
She argued that the destruction seen in Gaza since October 2023 forms part of a longer process that began decades ago.
“The crime is in the idea that some can take the land and remove the people,” she said.
Outlining legal elements that constitute genocide, she cited forced displacement, “conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction”, and the targeting of cultural identity.
She referenced the destruction of universities, libraries and museums in Gaza, describing it as the erasure of “a people’s identity”.
She further noted the bombing of areas to which civilians were instructed to flee and the widespread collapse of access to water, food and medical care.
Joining her on stage, Palestinian academic Professor Haidar Eid described the impact of the destruction on Gaza’s education system.
“We are not numbers,” he said. Citing figures from the Gaza education ministry, he said more than 20 000 students, and at least 1 700 teachers, had been killed since last October. Eid added, “I have lost more than 50 cousins. I have lost my own family. I have no home to go back to.”
Albanese said the duty to prevent genocide does not rest only on the state alleged to be committing it. Other states must ensure their actions and economic relations do not facilitate violations.
“Governments rarely act from morality; it is people who push them there,” she said, urging the audience to scrutinise their own roles.
“Check what you buy. No political choices hidden in your basket.”
She argued that supply chains linked to the occupation must face public pressure and accountability.
Eid called on South Africa to examine its trade links with Israel and related industries.
“Why are we still exporting coal? Why are we still enabling mercenaries?” he asked. He said that symbolic solidarity must be matched by material consequences.
The rapporteur also drew attention to restrictions placed on Palestine-related speech and organising at universities in other parts of the world. She described a “regression of academic freedom”, referring to actions taken by institutions in North America and Europe to limit debate.
Albanese said the university should remain “a sanctuary for thinking”, warning that silencing dissent undermined democratic principles.
“This is a method to control what people think and how they express themselves,” she said.
Eid similarly emphasised the responsibility of universities to protect academic inquiry.
“We tried so hard as academics,” he said, referencing colleagues killed in Gaza. He said that education had become a target in attempts to “destroy the possibility of life”.
Albanese acknowledged South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice as an example of a state acting on its obligations under international law.
South Africa’s intervention had “opened the door” for other states to act. But she cautioned that, without coordinated international pressure, the situation in Gaza would continue.
“This is a transformative moment,” she said. “Either we reject these strategies and techniques of mass containment — or they will be exported globally.”
She said Gaza had become a test case which could set a precedent for future conflicts.
Several members of the audience asked about accountability for the corporations identified in Albanese’s report. She said public advocacy and legal action could be used to compel compliance with international humanitarian law.
“The trials of public shame” can be effective when courts are slow to act, she said.
Albanese is due to present her report to the UN General Assembly at 4.15pm, South African time, on Tuesday from the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town. A press briefing is expected to follow.