Amazon Labor Union founder Christian Smalls spoke to Zeteo about his experience joining nearly two dozen people from around the world on a quest to deliver aid to Gaza – and the brutality he faced after he and his crewmates were intercepted by the Israeli military, as had happened to preceding flotillas.
Last month, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition sought yet again to break the Israeli siege of Gaza and deliver aid to thousands of starving Palestinians. On the ship, the Handala, there were 20 passengers from around the world, including Smalls.
Recalling the moment Israeli soldiers boarded the ship, Smalls said, “I was looking around and looking at these commandos, who are killing machines; they could be the average young adult college student walking around here in America. And that's what really frustrated me is that our tax-paying dollars are going towards giving these young adults these big, powerful weapons to kill innocent people.”
The pain of being so close to reaching the people of Gaza, Smalls said, was deep.
“I started breaking down, like crying like a baby, because I wanted to make it to Gaza so bad. And I didn't see our mission as a failure, but the fact that we came so far and got so close, you know, less than 60 miles away, that's what hit home for me,” Smalls said. He added that emotions were high, too, in knowing how much hope the project gave to others, and how much hope millions around the world gave him.
But, Smalls said that, upon being turned over to the authorities in Israel, “that's when things took a turn for the worse.”
Smalls described a brutal episode in which seven officers ganged up on him, “put their knee in my back,” pulled his hair, and used his jewelry to choke him.
Paid subscribers can watch the full 24-minute interview above, and hear Smalls talk about the harrowing attack, the conditions he and his crewmates faced in Israeli confinement, and much more.
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Check out more from Zeteo’s coverage of last month’s flotilla and Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza:
