Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories known for her anti-Israel stance, walked out of a live broadcast on Italy’s La7 network on Sunday after a panelist referenced Holocaust survivor and Italian senator Liliana Segre.
The debate, titled “The Square of the Flotilla”—a nod to Italy’s pro-Palestinian rallies—focused on Gaza and Trump’s peace plan. Albanese repeated her claim that Israel is committing genocide. But when conservative commentator Francesco Giubilei said, “I fully agree with Senator Liliana Segre that we must be careful with how we use the term ‘genocide,’” Albanese abruptly left the studio.
Giubilei quipped: “Very democratic of Ms. Albanese—apparently, mentioning Segre is enough to make her leave. What a disgraceful scene.” Hosts later claimed Albanese had a prior commitment, but her dramatic exit mid-debate sparked outrage.
Segre, 95, one of Italy’s most respected Holocaust survivors, was deported to Auschwitz at 13, where her parents and brother were murdered. Appointed senator for life in 2018, she has warned against trivializing the term “genocide.” In August, she told La Repubblica that using it for Gaza is “vengeful, not analytical,” and risks “shifting blame from Europe’s guilt to the victims of Nazism, portraying Israel as the new Nazis.”
