On 1 July 2025, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, presented her latest report during an online meeting hosted by ARDD and Law for Palestine (L4P). The event brought together members of ARDD’s Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) and members of L4P’s board and team.
Entitled From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide, the report investigates the corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project of displacement and replacement of Palestinians in the occupied territory. While political leaders and governments shirk their obligations, numerous corporate entities have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid, and now, genocide. The complicity exposed in the report is only the tip of the iceberg; ending it requires holding the private sector and its executives accountable. International law recognises varying degrees of responsibility—each demanding scrutiny and accountability—especially in this case, where an entire people’s self-determination and very existence are at stake. This is a necessary step towards ending the genocide and dismantling the global systems that have enabled it.
In her introductory remarks, the Special Rapporteur highlighted that the report examines corporate entities across multiple sectors: arms manufacturers, tech firms, construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities, and charities. These entities enable the denial of self-determination and perpetuate structural violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including occupation, annexation, and crimes of apartheid and genocide. The report also details a wide range of related crimes and human rights violations, from discrimination, wanton destruction, forced displacement, and pillage to extrajudicial killings and starvation.
Following Albanese’s presentation, a lively Q&A session took place, with participants commending the report, requesting clarifications, and initiating discussions on how it could serve as a framework and platform for collective action to end the ongoing genocide, apartheid, occupation, and related crimes. Participants emphasised the importance of building on the existing momentum of global transformative solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian people.
The full report is available at:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5923-economy-occupation-economy-genocide-report-special-rapporteur
