Legal representatives for pro-Israel groups suing United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories [sic] Francesca Albanese for defamation served her with papers in South Africa last week after she delivered a lecture at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
As Breitbart News has reported, the groups, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA, are suing Albanese for defamation for accusing them of complicity in so-called “genocide.”
Albanese is a radically pro-Palestinian and antisemitic UN official who is subject to U.S. sanctions. The Nelson Mandela Foundation came in for criticism for hosting an official whose mission is in conflict to Mandela’s message of reconciliation.
Nevertheless, the Foundation’s event drew a large audience, which was celebrated as a triumph — until lawyers for the American Christian groups showed up with papers ordering her to defend a U.S. civil suit.
The South African government had, in fact, given permission for the American lawyers to serve Albanese with court papers, though it later apologized and said that the permission had been granted in error.
South Africa’s Daily Maverick, which is sympathetic to Albanese and staunchly anti-Israel, reported:
There was confusion at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development after an official in the department issued an unauthorised letter that led to a Sheriff approaching the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, to serve her with court papers.
On Sunday, 26 October 2025, the department issued an apology to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, after an official in the department issued an unauthorised letter that led to a Sheriff approaching Albanese with court papers on Saturday.…
On Sunday, the Nelson Mandela Foundation released a little more detail, stating: “It is regrettable that the media engagement following the event, with the further probing of key issues we had anticipated, was disrupted by the attempt of the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, Christians for Israel, USA, serving court papers on Ms Albanese, for alleged defamation. We welcome the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s acknowledgement that the service of the process was irregular and its consequent apology to Ms Albanese, the UN, and the Foundation.”
South Africa has also refused to serve judicial papers in the past — including, notoriously, when it refused to arrest Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
The service of papers, or process, in a U.S. civil case is a key step that triggers a series of deadlines in which a defendant must respond to a lawsuit or face a default judgement against him or her.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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