Human rights activist and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has called for corporate accountability on the Gaza situation.

On Thursday, Albanese delivered a Pre-annual Lecture Dialogue at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, centred on Albanese’s latest report,  titled “The Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide”.

This lecture, delivered in front of a crowd of more than 100 people, is a prelude to the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, which will be held on Saturday at the Sandton Convention Centre.

In June 2025, the UN published Albanese’s report, which accuses corporate entities as key enablers and profiteers of the occupation of Palestinian territories and the Gaza genocide.

Her report lists 48 corporations, including Microsoft, Volvo, Alphabet Inc., and Amazon, which she says are helping Israel displace Palestinians in breach of international law.

The Italian-born activist, through her report and public statements, has indicated that the private sector has a role to play in delivering a free Palestine.

Her pleas for the private sector to take a stand coincide with more calls for the corporate world to stop fuelling the conflict under the guise of creating sustainable economies for the future and jobs for the people.

“The private sector has been the driver and enabler of neo-colonialism. Behind every conflict, there is suffering, and behind every settler colonial enterprise, there is a rapaciousness to get resources. This is happening inside Europe before it became too expensive and pushed to become what it has become, an exported domination strategy,” she said.

The fierce critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestine said that in the current global world, it is impossible for the private sector, which benefits economically through direct and indirect trade relations with the Israeli government, to say they are not aware of the impact of the genocide currently taking place in Gaza.

“There has never been a time when human rights violations have been so well-documented. It is, therefore, impossible for businesses to say they are not aware of what is happening. Businesses, including executives leading these enterprises, should be held accountable. They should face justice, and there must be legal processes against executives, and those who have provided the systems and technology for Israelis to become a killing machine should be investigated.”

She said ordinary people and governments can effect change through a variety of ways, including consumer boycotts and disinvestment as a way to lend their voices to the current systemic and corporate genocide.

“The students have done it. The doctors have done it. It is possible to deliver a multinational boycott. For the first time, Europeans are reacting against businesses and governments. I recently heard Dr Naledi Pandor saying, if trade unions were to call for a strike against Israel for one month, the genocide would stop,” she stated.

Saturday’s lecture will address the theme “Enhancing Peace and Global Cooperation”, which draws its inspiration from the late former president Nelson Mandela’s 2003 speech delivered in Malawi, where he reminded the world that “international and multilateral bodies have the ability, if there is the political will, to solve and prevent conflicts”, and affirmed that business leaders also share responsibility for building a more peaceful and prosperous world.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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