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gaza freedom flotilla
Chris Smalls Is Coming Home; Will This Shake the US Labor Movement Into Action on Gaza?
Despite Smalls' high-profile success at Amazon, the majority of American unions ignored his beating by the IDF.
Jul 31, 2025
Early Thursday morning, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced that Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls had been released from Israeli prison.
According to the group, Smalls is currently on his way to the Allenby Bridge border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan. From Jordan, he is expected to fly to JFK.
Labor Party USA, an organization founded by Smalls, confirmed on Instagram that they were planning a welcoming party for him at KFK Airport on Friday morning.
Smalls' detention and arrest caused international outrage.
With Smalls returning to the United States, it will be interesting to see whether he speaks publicly about his beating at the hands of the IDF, which will draw more attention to the plight of Palestinians within the labor movement.
On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) boarded the Handala, a ship associated with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, that was attempting to reach Gaza with supplies for starving Palestinians. The IDF detained 21 activists, who had their hands held up, in graphic images that the Freedom Flotilla Coalition captured.
On Monday, details emerged that not only was Smalls detained, but he was physically beaten by the IDF. He was the only Black member of the Freedom Flotilla on the Handala.
"The Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirms that upon arrival in Israeli custody, U.S. human rights defender, Christian Smalls, was physically assaulted by seven uniformed individuals," wrote the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on Instagram. "They choked him and kicked him in the legs, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back."
Still, despite Smalls having been profiled by every major media outlet in the U.S. when he successfully led the union drive at Amazon, not a single major media outlet has covered his violent detention by the IDF five days ago.
Even worse, the majority of American unions ignored his beating by the IDF.
Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, whose union the Amazon Labor Union is affiliated with, has yet to denounce his detention. Instead, O'Brien, who famously spoke in praise of Trump at the Republican National Convention last summer, took to social media Tuesday to promote an interview with Tucker Carlson.
Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson did denounce the IDF's beating of Smalls.
"If this is how the IDF treats American citizens traveling with media attention, it brings even more credibility to the reports of their abuses of Palestinian civilians," Nelson wrote on Bluesky late Wednesday. "I stand in solidarity w/ my brother Chris, the civilians in Gaza and all working towards peace and dignity for all. End this horror."
While most American unions stayed silent, the 750,000 member Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the largest union in Canada, did denounce the IDF's treatment of Smalls.
"CUPE stands in solidarity with U.S. labour leader Chris Smalls and all the activists unlawfully detained by Israel while on board the Freedom Flotilla Handala, delivering aid to Gaza," CUPE wrote on Bluesky late Wednesday. "We condemn this brutality and call for their immediate release."
With Smalls returning to the United States, it will be interesting to see whether he speaks publicly about his beating at the hands of the IDF, which will draw more attention to the plight of Palestinians within the labor movement.
The Amazon Labor Union called on the rest of the labor movement to mobilize to denounce the detention of Amazon Labor Union founder Chris Smalls.
"We honor the call from Palestinian labor unions to disrupt the arms trade and support global workers' actions such as strikes, direct protests, and other efforts," the Amazon Labor Union said in a statement.
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Israeli Navy Seizes Second Gaza-Bound Freedom Flotilla Vessel in 2 Months
"The interception occurred in international waters outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, in violation of international maritime law," the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.
Jul 26, 2025
The Israeli military intercepted and seized the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel The Handala late Saturday night local time as it attempted to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to the besieged people of Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition reported that Israeli forces cut the cameras on board the ship at 11:43 pm local time, when it was around 40 nautical miles from Gaza.
"The unarmed boat was carrying lifesaving supplies when it was boarded by Israeli forces, its passengers abducted, and its cargo seized," the coalition wrote. "The interception occurred in international waters outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, in violation of international maritime law."
Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed that its navy had intercepted the ship, as Al Jazeera reported.
"The vessel is safely making its way to the shores of Israel," the ministry said in a statement. "All passengers are safe."
"Our vessel does not constitute any threat to you. We carry only humanitarian aid, and therefore, you have no authority to intercept or otherwise attack our vessel."
The Handala set sail for Gaza on July 20 from Gallipoli, Italy. It is the second attempt by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to break the siege on Gaza in under two months. An earlier attempt in June was also intercepted by the Israeli military and its crew members arrested and deported.
There are 21 crew members onboard The Handala from 12 countries: 19 human rights defenders and two journalists. The crew includes seven U.S. citizens, among them labor leader Christian Smalls.
The crew had promised to begin a hunger strike as soon as they were intercepted by the Israeli military.
"In captivity they can give their sandwiches and water to the starving people of Gaza," Smalls wrote on social media.
Another U.S. crew member, the Palestinian-American lawyer and activist Huwaida Arraf, rebuked the Israeli Navy as they boarded the ship, according to a video obtained by Al Jazeera:
"Let me give you a lesson in international law," Arraf said, adding:
Any blockade that deliberately starves a civilian population is a violation of international law. It is not only that—it is a war crime. You have no legal authority to enforce an unlawful blockade. And as such, you have no authority to use force to enforce an unlawful blockade.
Therefore, we demand that you stand down. You are responsible for the well-being of every civilian on board this vessel. As an occupying power in Gaza, you are responsible for the health and well-being of the civilian population there.
Not only have you disregarded that obligation, but you are actively exterminating the people. You have engineered a famine. You are deliberately starving civilians and children before the eyes of the world.
Our vessel does not constitute any threat to you. We carry only humanitarian aid, and therefore, you have no authority to intercept or otherwise attack our vessel. We demand again that you stand down.
The Handala's interception came at the close of a day that saw 71 people killed in Gaza due to Israeli attacks and five perish from hunger. This brings the total number of deaths from starvation in Gaza to over 127, among them more than 85 children. After 658 days of a U.S.-backed Israeli siege, at least 244,000 Palestinians in Gaza are now in the most dangerous Stage 5 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification to measure famine. One five-month-old child who died on Friday due to lack of baby formula weighed less at death than she did at birth, as The Associated Press reported. A growing number of human rights experts and advocates have characterized Israel's war and siege on Gaza as a genocide.
The ship was carrying diapers, baby formula, food, and medicine.
According to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition, Saturday's interception was the "third violent act by Israeli forces against Freedom Flotilla missions this year alone."
"It follows the drone bombing of the civilian aid ship Conscience in European waters in May, which injured four people and disabled the vessel, and the illegal seizure of The Madleen in June, where Israeli forces abducted 12 civilians, including a member of the European Parliament," the group wrote.
Ann Wright, a member of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition steering committee, called on the governments of the 21 crew members to advocate for their citizens.
"Protect innocent international people who are merely accompanying a small amount of aid—medical and food—as a symbol of the international outrage at what Israel is doing," she told Al Jazeera.
This article has been corrected to state that 244,000 Palestinians in Gaza were in Phase 5 of starvation in May 2025. A previous version incorrectly stated that 85% of the population was in Phase 5.
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Despite 2 Sabotage Attempts, the Gaza Flotilla Ship Handala Sails Onward
The Handala departed for Gaza on July 20, 2025 with 21 participants, including seven U.S. citizens.
Jul 21, 2025
Mere hours before the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship Handala was to sail with 21 participants on board, in the Italian port of Gallipoli, two attempts to sabotage the ship were made.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition stated in its Instagram:
Just hours before departure, the Handala faced two alarming incidents: a rope wrapped around the propeller and a delivery labeled as water that contained a corrosive chemical, injuring crew members. These may be calculated attempts to harm us and stop our mission.
We will not be intimidated. We sail for the children of Gaza—against siege, starvation, and slaughter. We sail to break Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver lifesaving aid and hope.
We call on the world to demand accountability and ensure safe passage for this civilian mission.
Despite the two attempts at sabotage, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition sailed its next ship to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The Handala departed for Gaza on July 20, 2025 from the Italian port of Gallipoli after stops in Augusta and Siracusa in Sicily. The journey to Gaza may take around seven days.
Twenty-one persons from 10 countries are onboard the Handala, including seven U.S. citizens, representing the hundreds of millions of Americans who are strongly opposed to U.S. complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
The following nationalities are represented on the Handala: USA, 7; France, 4; Australia, 2; Italy, 2; Spain, 2; Norway, 1; Morocco, 1; Tunisia, 1; United Kingdom, 1; and Israel—two U.S. citizens have dual citizenship with Israel.
U.S. Citizens on the Handala
Huwaida Arraf from Detroit, Michigan is a Palestinian who is a citizenship in both the U.S. and Israel. She was on several of the small boats that actually got into Gaza in 2008. She was also on the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla on the boat named Challenger One. She is a human rights lawyer. She is a steering committee member of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition and U.S. Boats to Gaza.
Braedon Peluso from New York is a mariner with over a decade of experience at sea, much of it dedicated to activism in marine conservation and sea rescue organizations. In 2024, he was part of the Handala mission.
Frank Romano is a U.S.-French citizen from New York City and Paris. He is a human rights lawyer and filmmaker. He has been in the West Bank many times.
Robert Suberi is a U.S.-Israeli citizen from St. Louis, Missouri. He has been a crew member of Handala during two sailings in Northern Europe. He has done accompany work in the West Bank.
Chris Smalls from New Jersey is an American labor organizer known for his role in leading Amazon worker organization on Staten Island, New York. He is a cofounder and the former president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) (2021-24).
Jacob Berger is a Jewish-American from Los Angeles. He is an actor and has done humanitarian work for Palestinians who have arrived in Cairo. He is active on social media.
Waad Aal Musa is an Al Jazeera journalist, news producer, and photographer, originally from Iraq, but now a U.S. citizen.
Other Participants on the Handala
Emma Fourreau is a member of European Parliament from France and also claims Sweden. She was a volunteer on the ship Sea Shepard.
Grabielle Cathala is a member of the French Parliament who worked as a humanitarian worker in Haiti and Congo.
Vigdis Bjorvand is a 70-year-old activist from Norway. A grandmother, she says she never wants her grandchild to say, “Grandma, you didn’t do anything.” She was on the Handala in 2023.
Antoinio La Piccirella is a mariner from Italy with worldwide activist experience.
Sergio Toribio Sanchez is a maritime mariner from Spain. He was also on the flotilla ship Madleen last month and filed a lawsuit against the Israeli government for involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the attack on the Madleen.
Ange Sahuquet is a maritime engineer from France who served on the activist boat Sea Shepard.
Santiago González Vallejo is a Spanish activist with the flotilla coalition partner Rumbo a Gaza.
Tan Safi from Australia has been a key part of the flotilla media team creating many Instagram posts for the various voyages since 2024.
Mohamed El Bakkali is an Al Jazeera journalist from Morocco.
Antonio Mazzeo is an award-winning journalist from Italy. In 2020, he was awarded the “Golden Dove for Peace” by the Archivio Disarmo in recognition “for having interpreted journalism and writing for years as a mission to defend human rights and denounce injustice.”
Robert Martin is a member of Australian Boats to Gaza and is a social media influencer.
Justine Kempf is a nurse from France who has worked with Doctors Without Borders in Congo and will be the medical person onboard.
Chloe Ludden recently resigned her position working with the United Nations in New York because of the Israeli genocide of Gaza and is from the U.K. and France.
Hatem Aouini is a longtime activist from Tunisia.
The ship has been in the Gaza Flotilla fleet since 2023 and made two Northern European educational community voyages before arriving in the Mediterranean in 2025.
Monitor the progress of the Handala voyage here.
Update on Other Flotilla Ships
The ship Conscience that was bombed by Israel in international waters off Malta in May 2025 is in Turkey. The international maritime community has still not investigated the bombing of a civilian ship in international waters.
The unarmed, civilian ship Madleen that was stolen from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla 110 nautical miles off Gaza in international waters is illegally seized and remains in Israel. The participants who were kidnapped, arrested, and taken against their wills to Israel are all home after having been imprisoned in Israel and deported.
We Will Not be Deterred by Sabotage Attempts
As stated in our Instagram post: “We will not be intimidated. We sail for the children of Gaza—against siege, starvation, and slaughter. We sail to break Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver lifesaving aid and hope. We call on the world to demand accountability and ensure safe passage for this civilian mission.”
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