Cynthia McKinney Returns to U.S. After Ordeal on High Seas and Israeli Prison | Black Agenda Report

Cynthia McKinney Returns to U.S. After Ordeal on High Seas and Israeli Prison

Bill Quigley

02 Jul 2009

🖨️ Print Article

The Editors

Former Georgia Congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney arrives at JFK Airport early Tuesday morning. McKinney, known as prisoner #88794 during her confinement at Ramle prison since Tuesday, was arrested along wih 20 other activists of the Free Gaza Movment when the Israeli Navy seized their vessel, Human Spirit, on the high seas. The boat was enroute from Cyprus to Gaza bearing humanitarian aid to Palestinian victims of the two-year-old Israeli blockade and military assault on the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million people.

McKinney and other Free Gaza members had refused to sign documents that were written in Hebrew and were said to be admissions to having entered Israel illegally. McKinney points out that she and here colleagues had no intention of entering Israel – their mission was to deliver humanitarian supplies, including cement and toys for children.

In a call from Ramle prison on Friday, Ms. McKinney reported: “The Israeli authorities tried to get us to confess to committing a crime. Israel,” she declared, “must be declared a failed state.”

Among her cellmates were Ethiopian female would-be immigrants to Israel who “thought Israel held promise for them – but it wasn’t true.”

Demonstrations in support of McKinney and the “Free Gaza 21”were held in several U.S. cities, including at the Israeli consulate in New York City. City Councilman Charles Barron led the crowd in chants of, “Hands of Cynthia McKinney.” Other actions were scheduled in New York, Washington, Atlanta and Chicago, this weekend.

The continuing blockade of Gaza, in which Israel and the U.S. collectively punish 1.5 million people is a crime under international law, and one of many stories not covered in the corporate news. Here are a few places where you can find out more about the situation in Israel-Palestine and the blockade.

The Free Gaza Project --ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES

the blockade

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.

More Stories

Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution and Struggle for Independence in Puerto Rico
06 Mar 2026
Brianna Alvarado Ramos of Diaspora Pa’lante Collective discusses the challenges of the revolutionary struggle in Venezuela and the fight for Puerto Rico's independence from U.S. colonialism.
The Editors
Iran 2026: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
04 Mar 2026
Iran 2026: Black Agenda Report Special Issue
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist , Dr. Gerald Horne , BettBeat
Epstein Class vs. Iran: "They’ll Blow Up the World"
04 Mar 2026
BAR Editor and Columnist Ajamu Baraka joined BettBeat Media, alongside Dr. Gerald Horne, to discuss the US imperialist campaign against Iran amid the ongoing genocide of Palestinians and how the same…
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Iran and the Psychopathology of White Supremacy
04 Mar 2026
Western threats against Iran and other nations reveal the persistence of white supremacist ideology.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
How Liberals Support Trump's War Against Iran
04 Mar 2026
“I don’t like Trump but Iran is bad,” is the siren song of feckless liberals. This moment calls for condemnation of the U.S. and unreserved support for the Iranian people and for their state.