The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its San Francisco Bay Area office (CAIR-SFBA) today welcomed the return of Black American labor rights activist Chris Smalls from Israeli imprisonment after Israeli forces kidnapped him from a ship in international waters that was bringing humanitarian aid to the starving people of Gaza and reportedly singled him out for beatings him while in custody.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR also demanded that the Justice Department hold Israel accountable for Smalls’ kidnapping and beating.
Smalls, the former president of Amazon Labor Union, was one of the 21 activists and journalists illegally detained when Israeli forces boarded a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship bringing badly needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
SEE: Amazon Labor Union Leader Chris Smalls Released From Israeli Prison
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned Israeli forces for singling out and beating Smalls, the only Black person kidnapped by Israel.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We welcome the return of labor activist Chris Smalls to the United States, and we commend him and the other members of the latest aid flotilla for their courageous attempt to break the Israeli government’s genocidal blockade of Gaza. The Justice Department must investigate and hold the Israeli government accountable for singling out and beating Mr. Smalls, the only Black American aboard the seized aid flotilla, and the Trump administration demand the unlimited and unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza.”
Yesterday, CAIR welcomed the Canadian government’s announcement that it plans to recognize the State of Palestine and called President Trump’s implicit threat to scuttle a trade agreement with Canada over its decision the “latest sign” that his administration is putting Israel first, not America first.
CAIR also condemned the reported takeover of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank by Illegal Israeli settlers and commended the 27 U.S. senators who voted to block offensive arms shipments to the Israeli government and called the vote a “historic sign of progress.”
Earlier today, CAIR welcomed the recognition of the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza by two prominent Israeli human rights organizations.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com