UNI Global Union, which represents 20 million service workers across more than 150 countries, including the United States, has voiced deep concern over the detention of Jewish-American author David Adler, a writer and co-coordinator of Progressive International.
Adler was arrested when Israeli forces intercepted and seized the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
To date, while a number of detainees have been released and deported, Adler remains in custody. In a letter sent to U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff of California, UNI Global Union called for his immediate release.
«UNI has a long history of working with David to improve jobs and the lives of workers. I know personally that he is a passionate voice for peace and justice,» the letter states, signed by Christy Hoffman, the union’s general secretary. Read the full letter here.
Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel also demanded the release of the Progressive International cofounder, urging that «the impunity of genocidal Zionists and their accomplices» come to an end.
«An illegally abducted Jew»
On social media, academic Yanis Varoufakis shared a heartfelt statement about his colleague and friend David Adler. We publish it in full below:
‘An illegally abducted Jew is languishing in a desert prison. While he is one of several abductees being held unlawfully, this man is singled out by his captors because he is a Jew. Though he is a U.S. citizen, not a single senator, congresswoman, or congressman has lifted a finger—or even spoken a word—to secure his release.
His name is David Adler: colleague, dear friend, a member of our extended family. The notorious prison where he is being held is Ketziot, in the Negev Desert. His captors are the State of Israel, whose agents seized David in international waters, along with hundreds of others, in an act of piracy (legally indisputable) against the crews of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were sailing toward a territory—the so‑called Gaza Strip—that the International Court of Justice, on June 19, 2024, declared illegally occupied and ordered Israel to vacate immediately.
Instead, over the past year, Israel reinforced its siege of Gaza and continued its calculated genocide of its people.
Israeli propaganda (always an essential tool for those seeking to cover up war crimes) deployed three colossal lies to justify its high-seas piracy: First, that David Adler and his comrades were recklessly entering a war zone and violating a security perimeter. Second, that if they truly wished to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, they should have handed it over to Israeli authorities, who would then pass it on to the population. Third, that the flotilla’s crews were financed and directed by Hamas.
That these are enormous lies is easy to demonstrate.
First, David Adler and his comrades were not entering a war zone but a zone of genocide. It was Israel that violated international law by declaring a security cordon around Gaza to safeguard its genocide—not the flotilla crews, whose only “weapons” were infant formula and bags of grain.
Second, Gaza’s population is being starved (when they are not being bombed to the bone) because Israel, as several of its ministers have proclaimed, has meticulously conspired to block the entry of food, water, and medicine. In this light, the notion that the flotilla should have delivered its aid to Israel (to be added to vast stockpiles that are actively prevented from reaching Gaza) is absurd.
Third, branding David Adler and his colleagues as Hamas facilitators—or worse, Hamas instruments—reveals the Israeli government’s desperation to slap a Hamas logo on the forehead of anyone it wants to kill, abduct, or vilify.
You may ask: Why am I focusing on David Adler in this post? The reason becomes clear in a message David shared before his anticipated abduction:
I almost never write “as a Jew.” I share the exhaustion of being forced to prioritize Jewish feelings… But today I felt compelled to write in that register, as one of the few Jews on this mission… If there is anything from the Torah I still remember, it is this obligation it imposes on us: “Justice, justice shall you pursue”… How could we stand by while the State of Israel perverts this sacred duty, presiding over a holocaust of the Palestinian people? I joined this flotilla like any other delegate, to defend humanity—before it is too late. But on Yom Kippur, I remember I am also here because my Jewish heritage demands it.
As a mere teenager, my grandfather Jacques Adler (pictured) joined the Parisian Resistance against the Nazis, risking his life to sabotage their operations even as his friends and family were sent to their deaths in concentration camps. That is the tradition I am called to, and the definition of “justice” I feel is true to my Jewish identity, as the same genocidal fury that targeted my ancestors is now being visited upon its principal victims…
If Israeli forces intercept us on Yom Kippur, let them witness true atonement. Not fasting in comfort while starving your neighbors. Not praying in safety while dropping bombs on their heads. Atonement means action. So, as the sun sets tonight and the fast begins, I hope my fellow Jews will join me in redefining their approach to atonement—beyond quiet prayer and toward courageous action to end this horrific genocide. G’mar chatima tova.
This is why I center my post on my friend David Adler—without neglecting or discounting the sacrifices of our other comrades in captivity: because David is the only Jew in the clutches of Israeli war criminals who believe they are perpetrating genocide in defense of the Jewish people.
Genocidaires, like Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, hate an honorable Jew like David Adler more than they hate Hamas. It is David Adler’s courageous stance that unmasks the lie that the Global Sumud Flotilla was some antisemitic armada of deluded Westerners. He is a living reminder (like his grandfather, who resisted the Nazis decades ago) of the error, criminality, and habits of those who condemn an entire people to death—a powerful example of the Jewish people’s deep-rooted opposition to orchestrated misanthropy, to pogroms, and to genocide.
And this is my reason for fearing for David Adler’s life and bodily integrity more than for any of his fellow abductees: because his genocidal captors feel very, very small in the presence of this Jewish man.
—Yanis Varoufakis.
El Ciudadano
