Chris Smalls Released from Israeli Custody [View all]

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. Jordan is expected to fly to Newark.

Labor Party USA, an organization founded by Smalls, confirmed on Instagram that they were planning a welcoming party for him at Newark Airport on Friday morning.

Smalls' detention and arrest caused international outrage.

On Saturday, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) boarded the Handala, a ship associated with the Flotilla Freedom Coalition, that was attempting to reach Gaza with supplies for starving Palestinians. The IDF detained 20 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 Small, was physically assaulted by seven uniformed individuals,” wrote the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on Instagram. “They choked him and kicked him, 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 three 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 RNC this summer, took to social media today to promote an interview with Tucker Carlson.

https://paydayreport.com/chris-smalls-released-from-israeli-custody/