US labor activist Christian Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union, has been held in Israeli custody since July 26. According to a report by the Adalah legal center, Smalls is in Givon Prison and is expected to be deported on July 31. Smalls, along with 21 other activists, was arrested by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. Reports from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition claim that Smalls has been subjected to beatings and brutal treatment.
On Saturday, July 26, Israeli forces boarded the “Handala”, another Gaza-bound ship part of the larger Freedom Flotilla effort, which was attempting to deliver diapers, baby formula, food, and medicine to the starved Gaza Strip. This is the second Freedom Flotilla ship to be seized by Israel, following the seizure of the “Madleen” last month and the abduction of its crew by Israeli forces. Israel did not have legal jurisdiction to board the “Handala”, according to Adalah, as “the flotilla never entered Israeli territorial waters, and nor was it intended to do so; it was headed toward the territorial waters of the State of Palestine, as recognized under international law.”
Meanwhile, the total hunger-related death toll in Gaza has risen to 154 since October of 2023. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Alert, Gaza is on the brink of experiencing famine.
Israel is obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid, such as food, into the besieged Strip, although it has begun to allow air-dropped aid. Air dropping as a method that has been widely criticized due its inefficiency and potential dangers – people in Gaza have been hurt and even killed by heavy aid pallets dropping from the sky.
“The #famine in #Gaza is entirely man-made. Responding with air drops is both unnecessary and dangerous,” wrote the UNRWA in a post on X. “The UN, including UNRWA, must be allowed to do its work so that aid can safely reach those who need it the most, including 1 million hungry children. Let our 6,000 trucks into Gaza.”
Broad support for US labor leader
Freedom Flotilla Coalition claimed that when Smalls was taken to an Israeli prison, he was physically assaulted by seven uniformed individuals. “They choked him and kicked him in the legs, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back,” the coalition wrote in a post on X. “When his lawyer met with him, Chris was surrounded by six members of Israel’s special police unit. This level of force was not used against other abducted activists.”
Jacob Berger, a Jewish-American actor who was also aboard the “Handala”, wrote in a post on Instagram yesterday that Smalls “is in good spirits and has stayed strong through it all.”
Journalist Abby Martin interviewed Smalls while he was aboard the “Handala”, about why he decided to make the dangerous journey. “I’m a father. I love my kids to death. I don’t want them to grow up in a world like this,” Smalls told Martin. “As a US citizen, I’m putting my life on the line – but this isn’t about us, this is about the people of Gaza. This is about Palestine. Enough is enough.”
Following his arrest, a number of organizations have expressed solidarity with Smalls and demanded his immediate release.
“We stand in full solidarity with Chris Smalls and demand his immediate release from Israel’s brutal occupation forces,” wrote the Peoples Forum, a movement incubator based in New York City. “Like the flotilla mission, we call for an end to the US-backed Israeli siege that has turned starvation into a weapon against the people of Gaza.”
On the Line, a media project spotlighting labor movement stories, wrote that “Smalls is one of many labor activists and unions to come out in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and to raise their voices demanding: stop starving Gaza now!”
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all detained activists aboard the Flotilla, an end to targeted racist treatment, and we call on the broader labor movement to take a stance for Palestinian liberation,” wrote the executive board of the Amazon Labor Union, which Smalls founded in 2021. “We honor the call from Palestinian trade unions to disrupt the arms trade and support global worker actions, such as strikes, direct protests, and other efforts to uphold the BDS picket line. This includes an end to Project Nimbus, Amazon’s $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli military, which directly enables surveillance, displacement, and apartheid.”
The post Israel detains US labor activist Chris Smalls during attempt to deliver aid to Gaza appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
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