Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

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.

 


Cynthia McKinney

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


  • Mumia Health update
    Julia Wright
    How to Resist the Deliberate Medical Neglect of Our Political Prisoners
    28 Feb 2024
    The state uses tactics such as medical neglect, to slowly assassinate political prisoners like Mumia Abu-Jamal.
  • Rabbi Alam speaks at a rally
    Jacqueline Luqman , Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Recognizing the Revolutionary Potential of the Abandon Biden/Listen to Michigan Initiatives
    28 Feb 2024
    It is prudent for Black people to join in coalition with the Arab and Muslim people collectively refusing to support President Biden and connect the struggle for Palestinian liberation to the…
  • Belgian colonialism in Congo.
    Abayomi Azikiwe
    Pan-African Struggles Against Colonialism and the First Imperialist War: 1876-1919
    28 Feb 2024
    From the decline of the triangular trade to the rapacious extraction of mineral resources and labor exploitation, Africans have organized and revolted against western domination.
  • Black-Palestinian solidarity
    Hanna Eid
    Black-Palestinian Solidarity; Clearing the Fog
    28 Feb 2024
    While revolutionary Black organizations after the Panthers continued to support Palestine vocally, the realities of COINTELPRO and mass incarceration have had a profound impact on the organization…
  • Senegalese President Macky Sall
    Tanupriya Singh
    Senegalese Civil Society “remains vigilant” As Top Court Overturns Election Delay
    28 Feb 2024
    The Constitutional Council nullified a presidential decree and a law passed by parliament postponing the February 25 elections. The chief election body has ordered that elections be held “as soon as…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us