1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to you with urgency and deep concern as your constituent to demand your immediate and public support for the release of Chris Smalls, a respected labor organizer, peace activist, and American citizen who was recently kidnapped and beaten by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). According to multiple reports, Mr. Smalls was taken into custody by the IOF while engaged in peaceful advocacy work and has since been subjected to violent and degrading treatment. As an American civilian and internationally recognized labor leader, Mr. Smalls’ detention represents not only a violation of his human rights, but also an egregious affront to U.S. sovereignty and the safety of American citizens abroad. His mistreatment demands your immediate attention. As a member of the United States Congress, you have both the moral and constitutional obligation to speak out against the unlawful detention and abuse of an American citizen by a foreign military force. I am calling on you to issue a public statement condemning Chris Smalls’ detention and to demand his immediate and unconditional release. Furthermore, I urge you to press the U.S. State Department and the Trump administration to take swift diplomatic action to secure his safety and return. If the U.S. government fails to protect its citizens from abuse and political retaliation, especially when those citizens are engaged in peaceful activism, then we are complicit in the erosion of the very freedoms we claim to uphold. Your silence on this matter is not neutrality. It is complicity. We are watching. And we will remember who stood up when it mattered.