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


  • Sally Nasser
    Organ Theft, Neo-Cannibalism and Israel’s Trade in Palestinian Death
    11 Feb 2026
    Missing organs from Palestinian bodies and a history of organ harvesting without consent make Israel's supposed organ donation record very suspicious. Palestinians are demanding an independent…
  • Navid Farnia , Nina Farnia
    Iran v. US Imperialism: An Interview with Navid Farnia & Nina Farnia
    11 Feb 2026
    A discussion on the protests in Iran, US imperialism, and Iranian resistance.
  • Jody McIntyre
    Morgan McSweeney: the Man Running Britain and His Ties to Israel
    11 Feb 2026
    Morgan McSweeney is an unelected operative steering the British government. His career reveals deep and formative ties to pro-Israel lobbyists and financiers.
  • Al Mayadeen English
    Bessent Admits Engineering Dollar Shortage to Destabilize Iran
    11 Feb 2026
    The US Treasury Secretary admits Washington engineered a dollar shortage in Iran, triggering currency collapse, economic unrest, and foreign-backed riots against that state.
  • Essam Elkorghli
    On the Assassination of Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi: Another Tale of Imperialist Treason
    11 Feb 2026
    The son of President Muammar Qaddaffi, Saif Qaddafi, has been assassinated by local forces, some of whom contributed to the destruction of a flourishing Libya.  A background to the murder and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us