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A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness: Reports on Israel's Genocide in Palestine
Israel’s genocide in Palestine and the complicity of powerful Western states is undermining international human rights and the UN system. The United States has imposed sanctions on lawyers, UN experts, and Palestinian officials in an attempt to bully and intimidate them into silence. One prominent example is UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has played an important role in documenting Israel’s atrocities and those who profit from its oppression of Palestinians.
This book compiles Albanese’s indispensable and damning reports on Israel’s conduct in Palestine since October 2023. First outlining the case that this period should be understood as a genocide, Albanese goes on to explain how the ongoing violence fits into a longer history of Israel’s settler colonialism, and finally presents a devastating indictment against the international corporations that treat mass killing and destruction as a business opportunity.
The volume also features a reflection by Albanese on the current state of affairs; revelations by her predecessors Richard Falk, John Dugard, and Michael Lynk of their experiences as UN special rapporteurs; and a preface by Lex Takkenberg, a 30-year veteran of UNRWA, co-authored with scholar Mandy Turner.
This book compiles Albanese’s indispensable and damning reports on Israel’s conduct in Palestine since October 2023. First outlining the case that this period should be understood as a genocide, Albanese goes on to explain how the ongoing violence fits into a longer history of Israel’s settler colonialism, and finally presents a devastating indictment against the international corporations that treat mass killing and destruction as a business opportunity.
The volume also features a reflection by Albanese on the current state of affairs; revelations by her predecessors Richard Falk, John Dugard, and Michael Lynk of their experiences as UN special rapporteurs; and a preface by Lex Takkenberg, a 30-year veteran of UNRWA, co-authored with scholar Mandy Turner.
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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March 8, 2026I had the opportunity to finally met her in person today. Her reports are very timely. As Palestine continues to serve as the Zionist's regimes playground to test its military and surveillance hardware, its lessons and blueprints are exported worldwide in a long string of complicity and financial support to the regime's heinous crimes.
One such case is how Israeli surveillance and drone technology is readily used by FRONTEX to patrol the Mediterrenean for refugees and migrants. AI, a topic that's been all the rage, is institutionalized as advance algorithmic programs run predictions on what is the most sufficient amount of caloric intake necessary to keep Gaza in a perpetual state of starvation. Worse are those programs who -- often times -- identify "potential threats" to the regime's interest.
This March, the European Parliament is set to vote on the Return Regulation, which will act as the precursor to the nightmares unfolding with ICE in America. And who will benefit but the same depraved madmen who showed the world that they will continue to experiment on human life as they deem fit.
One such case is how Israeli surveillance and drone technology is readily used by FRONTEX to patrol the Mediterrenean for refugees and migrants. AI, a topic that's been all the rage, is institutionalized as advance algorithmic programs run predictions on what is the most sufficient amount of caloric intake necessary to keep Gaza in a perpetual state of starvation. Worse are those programs who -- often times -- identify "potential threats" to the regime's interest.
This March, the European Parliament is set to vote on the Return Regulation, which will act as the precursor to the nightmares unfolding with ICE in America. And who will benefit but the same depraved madmen who showed the world that they will continue to experiment on human life as they deem fit.
October 13, 2025
‘We must bear witness, speak the truth, and act with courage, knowing that the arc of history bends towards accountability only when we refuse to look away.’
December 7, 2025
A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness by Francesca Albanese comprises her three reports and reflections as UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian occupied territories.
I can summarize the three reports like this:
The first report is titled Anatomy of a Genocide (1 July 2024) — she lays down what constitutes genocide and concludes that the systematic killing, destruction, displacement, and dehumanization committed are indeed a genocide.
The second report is Genocide as Colonial Erasure (1 October 2024) — she explains how decades of occupation, apartheid-style policies, displacement, land expropriation, and dispossession are intentional processes to erase Palestinian life, identity, and rights.
The third report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide (30 June 2025), unveils how global economic structures and interests, as well as international corporations, help to sustain and profit from violence and destruction, which are treated as business opportunities.
All in all, I really like how transparent the reports are. The rapporteur illustrates her findings as detailed as she could, and she recommends what actions states, institutions, corporations, and even individuals can take together in order to stop the genocide. She courageously calls out those who are responsible, directly and indirectly, to be legally accountable for the ongoing suffering and systemic oppression.
"These reports are not only catalogues of destruction but calls to action."
I can summarize the three reports like this:
The first report is titled Anatomy of a Genocide (1 July 2024) — she lays down what constitutes genocide and concludes that the systematic killing, destruction, displacement, and dehumanization committed are indeed a genocide.
The second report is Genocide as Colonial Erasure (1 October 2024) — she explains how decades of occupation, apartheid-style policies, displacement, land expropriation, and dispossession are intentional processes to erase Palestinian life, identity, and rights.
The third report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide (30 June 2025), unveils how global economic structures and interests, as well as international corporations, help to sustain and profit from violence and destruction, which are treated as business opportunities.
All in all, I really like how transparent the reports are. The rapporteur illustrates her findings as detailed as she could, and she recommends what actions states, institutions, corporations, and even individuals can take together in order to stop the genocide. She courageously calls out those who are responsible, directly and indirectly, to be legally accountable for the ongoing suffering and systemic oppression.
"These reports are not only catalogues of destruction but calls to action."
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December 29, 2025It’s all here.
“Normalisation of the illegal is essential to the survival of Israel’s settler-colonial enterprise. Now, this is political economy that was always eliminatory and has turned into genocidal mode.”
“Normalisation of the illegal is essential to the survival of Israel’s settler-colonial enterprise. Now, this is political economy that was always eliminatory and has turned into genocidal mode.”
October 26, 2025
The ebook is free to download from the Pluto Press website indefinitely, with request for a donation to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA. All royalties from sales of the book will be donated to UNRWA. https://www.plutobooks.com/product/a-...
The book republishes the three UN reports that UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has written that document Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. There is a short introduction in which she reflects on the thought processes that went into these three reports and the international responses to them. There is a preface by her three predecessors Richard Falk, Michael Lynk, and John Dugard; and there is a foreword by Mandy Turner and Lex Takkenberg explaining the logic of the book and the title, which is adapted from a line in a poem from Mahmoud Darwish. The cover is a piece of artwork – “Children of Gaza Dreaming of Peace” – by Malak Mattar, a Palestinian painter from Gaza.
The book republishes the three UN reports that UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has written that document Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. There is a short introduction in which she reflects on the thought processes that went into these three reports and the international responses to them. There is a preface by her three predecessors Richard Falk, Michael Lynk, and John Dugard; and there is a foreword by Mandy Turner and Lex Takkenberg explaining the logic of the book and the title, which is adapted from a line in a poem from Mahmoud Darwish. The cover is a piece of artwork – “Children of Gaza Dreaming of Peace” – by Malak Mattar, a Palestinian painter from Gaza.
March 5, 2026
This is a blog comment I posted on my author's website johnstrapasonbooks.com. It is a brief comment about the book A Moon Will Rise From the Darkness/Reports on Israel's Genocide in Palestine by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Albanese is an experienced human rights lawyer who brings an intelligent, detailed, and unbiased perspective on the situation in Gaza.
Published 2025 by Pluto Press. Written by Francesca Albanese, who, at the time of review, was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Albanese began her duties in May of 2022. During the period March 2024 through June 2025, Albanese produced reports on the situation in the OPT and submitted them to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration.
Albanese, an experienced human rights lawyer, was denied entry into the OPT by Israel, so she gathered information from various reliable sources to compile her report. Through sheer persistence, bolstered by her courage and sharp mind, she presented three major reports on the conditions in the OPT.
Her reports emphasize the intricacies of International Law as it pertains to human rights. Considering many factors and carefully analyzing the results of her gathered data, Albanese concludes that it is reasonable from a legal standpoint to make inferences as to the intent of the Israeli government in the making of wartime decisions regarding the conflict in Gaza.
Her report states in great detail the various points of International Law that Israel has broken and continues to break as it carries on its campaign against the OPT, both in Gaza and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Albanese describes the Israeli campaign as "genocidal", being the result of its policy of settler colonialism.
She describes how genocide is a process that may cover many years, and details how Israel has persisted in carrying out this genocidal process through the destruction of not only the Palestinian people, but their culture, their land, their homes, and their means of subsistence. It is a report that points the finger at Israel as being guilty, beyond any reasonable doubt, of the crimes against humanity that have been directed against it.
Albanese then offers recommendations to diminish or stop this genocidal process. It is an eye-opening and educational read for those who doubt the accuracy of news reports from major outlets, which are, of course, severely edited and biased.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to know the real story about what is going on inside Israel and the OPT as this Gaza conflict progresses. Albanese has written other books on this conflict, each from a different angle.
Published 2025 by Pluto Press. Written by Francesca Albanese, who, at the time of review, was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Albanese began her duties in May of 2022. During the period March 2024 through June 2025, Albanese produced reports on the situation in the OPT and submitted them to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration.
Albanese, an experienced human rights lawyer, was denied entry into the OPT by Israel, so she gathered information from various reliable sources to compile her report. Through sheer persistence, bolstered by her courage and sharp mind, she presented three major reports on the conditions in the OPT.
Her reports emphasize the intricacies of International Law as it pertains to human rights. Considering many factors and carefully analyzing the results of her gathered data, Albanese concludes that it is reasonable from a legal standpoint to make inferences as to the intent of the Israeli government in the making of wartime decisions regarding the conflict in Gaza.
Her report states in great detail the various points of International Law that Israel has broken and continues to break as it carries on its campaign against the OPT, both in Gaza and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Albanese describes the Israeli campaign as "genocidal", being the result of its policy of settler colonialism.
She describes how genocide is a process that may cover many years, and details how Israel has persisted in carrying out this genocidal process through the destruction of not only the Palestinian people, but their culture, their land, their homes, and their means of subsistence. It is a report that points the finger at Israel as being guilty, beyond any reasonable doubt, of the crimes against humanity that have been directed against it.
Albanese then offers recommendations to diminish or stop this genocidal process. It is an eye-opening and educational read for those who doubt the accuracy of news reports from major outlets, which are, of course, severely edited and biased.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to know the real story about what is going on inside Israel and the OPT as this Gaza conflict progresses. Albanese has written other books on this conflict, each from a different angle.
February 6, 2026
Subject matter is really important to me- I studied genocide in school and continue to pay attention to it more than the average lay person... This collection of reports was honestly a bunch of stuff i've already been presented with in the past, but that is not to knock the author(s), it's good to get this stuff out there to as many people as possible- that being said, I couldn't bring myself to give it a full 5 stars because there were quite a bit of typos and editing errors, that I can't just chalk up to translation of language. I get it, the publisher was in a frenzy to get this printed and pushed out there, but they should have gave it another read through to make corrections. While some may consider this condescending or nitpicking... The types of people who generally combat this issue of Palestinian genocide, by which I mean the Israel lobby, pundits, media personalities, etc. look at any excuse or avenue to discredit someone mentioning the genocide. So while it might seem stupid to stress over numbers in the wrong places, unfortunately the group in power here is so powerful that it doesn't matter if your story is true and correct, it alao has to be laid out perfectly, otherwise they will rip it to shreds.
March 13, 2026
This concise book provides a clear and compelling examination of the case of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Structured as a set of three reports, it approaches the subject from three themes: understanding genocide as a legal concept, analysing Israel’s actions as a combination of individual acts and state policies, and examining the economics of profiteering from genocide.
At just around 100 pages, it’s remarkably condensed yet manages to present the evidence and arguments effectively. Each report complements the others, reinforcing the overall case without overwhelming the reader.
At just around 100 pages, it’s remarkably condensed yet manages to present the evidence and arguments effectively. Each report complements the others, reinforcing the overall case without overwhelming the reader.
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October 25, 2025I’m not going to give a collection of UN reports a rating, but I will say that everyone should read this.
These reports are incredibly researched, primary-sourced documents that outline how Israel is committing genocide in Palestine as well as shows the companies and organizations who are financially supporting and benefiting from it.
These reports are not a dense read and quite easy to understand, so don’t be intimidated by the nature of the texts.
The e-book is free right now to download: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/a-...
These reports are incredibly researched, primary-sourced documents that outline how Israel is committing genocide in Palestine as well as shows the companies and organizations who are financially supporting and benefiting from it.
These reports are not a dense read and quite easy to understand, so don’t be intimidated by the nature of the texts.
The e-book is free right now to download: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/a-...
January 19, 2026
a must read. painful, eye opening, but an indispensable read. Francesca Albanese, one of the most courageous, dignified, honest and strong-willed persons in the current geopolitical arena, gives her testimony to the genocide of the Palestinian people shedding light not only on the magnitude of the crime and its perpetrators' aim behind the biggest crime of the current century, but also at the facilitators of said crime, the hidden state and companies that aid and abet and fully support the crime for political and economic gains.
January 25, 2026
This book provides the author’s legal reports on the international legal violations that the territories of Palestine have endured in recent years.
These are reports and written as such. If you don’t have any legal background, you may find it difficult to follow at times. That being said, it is worth the read for anyone who wants to know what has happened and how the world can deliver justice.
The truth matters.
These are reports and written as such. If you don’t have any legal background, you may find it difficult to follow at times. That being said, it is worth the read for anyone who wants to know what has happened and how the world can deliver justice.
The truth matters.
March 2, 2026
Three reports of Francesca Albaneseon what has been taking place in Palestine since October 8. 2023. Important documents that are nothing but representations of facts, meticulously sourced and as detached emotionally as possible - and yet still utterly heartbreaking and infuriating. I would advise everybody to get a hold of this book, because I do not trust social media not to rewrite and delete everything sooner or later.
April 12, 2026
A difficult but essential read.
“Since its establishment, Israel has treated the occupied people as a hated encumbrance and threat to be eradicated, subjecting millions of Palestinians, for generations, to everyday indignities, mass killing, mass incarceration, forced displacement, racial segregation and apartheid”.
“Since its establishment, Israel has treated the occupied people as a hated encumbrance and threat to be eradicated, subjecting millions of Palestinians, for generations, to everyday indignities, mass killing, mass incarceration, forced displacement, racial segregation and apartheid”.
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January 14, 2026What is there to say about it. It's a collection of three reports which are undeniably informative and important.
January 15, 2026
A must read, the reports are articulated and describe the catastrophe we have allowed to happen in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
February 1, 2026
extremely hard to read but important to know
April 12, 2026
A must-read.
“We must bear witness, speak the truth, and act with courage, knowing that the arc of history bends towards accountability only when we refuse to look away.”
“We must bear witness, speak the truth, and act with courage, knowing that the arc of history bends towards accountability only when we refuse to look away.”
April 12, 2026
everyone needs to read this asap
April 20, 2026
Incredible work. Informational and reputable
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May 13, 2026Refuse to look away.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews