Solidarity with Chris Smalls and the Handala flotilla

 


On July 26th, the Israeli Occupation Forces attacked Handala, the freedom flotilla ship enroute to Gaza, in international waters. The boat carrying life-saving supplies, from baby formula to medicine, was hijacked by the IOF while it was around 40 nautical miles away from the coast. The boat was then towed to Isdud (occupied name Ashdod), and its passengers were imprisoned.



 

Among the 21 civilians on-board Handala was Chris Smalls, labour organizer and social justice activist, best known for having played a phenomenal role in the unionization of Amazon workers in Staten Island and the formation of the Amazon Labor Union, or ALU. Over the last 5 years, Smalls has been a well-deserved icon in the union movement, regularly invited to numerous conferences and labour conventions across the world, including in Toronto and Canada. Yet, over the last several hours, we are yet to see a mass outrage from the organized labour on the incarceration of Smalls, and the racial violence he was subjected to by Israeli police.



 

After being incarcerated by the IOF, Smalls – the only Black man on Handala - was singularly subjected to severe physical and racial assault by seven uniformed individuals. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced that he was choked and kicked, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back. When Smalls’ lawyer finally met him, he continued to be surrounded by six members of Israeli force.

 

Unions and social justice organizations in Canada must be outraged by this blatant racial violence committed upon one of the leaders of the resurgent union movement in North America. We cannot be silent at the face of the legal and political impunity provided by US and Canada to Israel to brutalize one of our own siblings.

 

In one of his last Instagram posts before being arrested, Smalls reminded “anyone with a heart” that “resistance is our only weapon against evil”. We must heed these words, resist with all our heart, and continue our struggle in solidarity.