AMMAN: Omar Shakir, ex-HRW Israel and Palestine director, resigned in February after Human Rights Watch blocked a key report on Palestinians' right of return. The report claimed Israeli policies denying this right cause serious harm and amount to a crime against humanity. Shakir said HRW never gave a clear written reason for shelving the report. HRW staff said the report was paused for more research due to its complexity. Shakir insists the halt was due to political worries, fearing the report might threaten Israel's Jewish identity. The right of return ties back to the 1948 Nakba, when about 760,000 Palestinians were displaced, with their descendants now numbering around six million. Meanwhile, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for Palestine, is under fire from several European governments, including the Czech Republic, Germany, France, and Italy, which called for her resignation. Czech FM Petr Macinka accused Albanese on social media of calling Israel a “common enemy of humanity,” a statement Albanese denies making. Albanese responded by highlighting the high death toll of over 20,000 children in Gaza, accusing critics of ignoring these casualties. The UN human rights office warned about rising personal attacks on independent experts like Albanese. While a motion to dismiss a UN special rapporteur is possible, diplomats say strong support for Palestinian rights in the Human Rights Council makes it unlikely to succeed.