The Freedom Flotilla Coalition recently released a statement condemning a reported physical assault on U.S. labor leader Chris Smalls by Israel’s special police unit.
Announced on social media platform X, the group says that Smalls was the only one out of 21 passengers to be subjected to brutal force. The 37-year-old was reportedly choked and kicked in the legs, leaving visible scars on his back and neck. The confrontation happened when their vessel was intercepted internationally by the police unit on Saturday.
The announcement by the coalition has drawn national outrage, particularly as Smalls was the only Black member of the aid group.
“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,” said the coalition. “We condemn this violence against Chris and demand accountability for the assault and discriminatory treatment he faced.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition set sail late last week to provide aid to Gaza as global officials continue to highlight the food crisis in the strip.
Per the World Food Programme, over 62,000 tons of food assistance will be needed each month to feed the entire 2.1 million population. A third of the population has been identified as being faced with famine-like conditions.
Reports of malnutrition are also on the rise, with 63 malnutrition-related deaths being recorded this month alone, according to the World Health Organization. Of these 63 people, 24 were children under the age of five. They were pronounced dead on arrival or died shortly after aid was provided at health facilities.
As of now, almost one in five children in Gaza is acutely malnourished. Approximately 18% of the 5,000 children under five who were admitted for malnutrition were diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition.
Before he set sail on the Freedom Flotilla to provide aid to Gaza citizens, Smalls highlighted the growing crisis.
“The one thing I don’t want to happen is my kids being in the world that we live in right now,” said Smalls in conversation with the Real News Network. “Every time a Palestinian child dies, a piece of humanity dies with it.”
Smalls first began his career as an American labor activist in 2022 as the founder of the Amazon worker organization in Staten Island. As the leader of the Amazon Labor Union, he led the group in efforts to obtain workers’ rights. The labor group successfully became the first unionized Amazon workers to be acknowledged by the National Labor Relations Board.
