August 1, 2025
The International Action Center condemns the illegal attack by the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF), carried out in international waters, on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship Handala and the kidnapping of all 21 crew members.
Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s boat the Handala prepares to leave for Palestine from Gallipoli, a coastal town in Italy, July 27, 2025. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
We further condemn the IOF’s brutal beating of Chris Smalls, founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Smalls was the only African American participant on the Flotilla.
According to the Coalition: “When he reached the Israeli prison, U.S. human rights defender Chris Smalls 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. 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.” (Newrepublic.com, July 29)
It was announced that Smalls will return to New York’s JFK International Airport on the morning of Aug. 1. Supporters gave him a hero’s welcome when he arrived! All of the crew members have reportedly been released and flown back to their home countries, but only after having been held for days in overcrowded, poorly ventilated cells, enduring extreme hot weather, being denied hygiene supplies and not given time outside their cells.
Handala, the third Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship illegally attacked by the IOF since May, “carried a shipment of critical humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza, including baby formula, diapers, food and medicine.” (freedomflotilla.org, July 26)
Despite Smalls’ critical role in winning the first union election at an Amazon facility in the U.S. — JFK8 in Staten Island, New York — most unions have been silent about the vicious IOF attack. This includes the Teamsters, with which the ALU is now affiliated.
Some unions that have spoken out include the ALU itself, the California Faculty Association, National Nurses United, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Labor for Palestine National Network and union leader Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants – CWA. Aside from these exceptions, the silence on the part of U.S. organized labor is shameful.
In addition to condemning this latest Zionist attack, the IAC demands an end to all of the fascist IOF attacks on humanitarian aid supplies and the workers who deliver them and an end to the deliberate, genocidal starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, who are in imminent danger of death from lack of food.
