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

Jacqueline Luqman
It Is Time To Reckon With The Reactionary Rantings of ADOS/FBA
26 Mar 2025
The ADOS and FBA (American Descendants of Slavery and Foundational Black Americans) movements have gained influence by advocating for reparations exclusively for Black Americans descended from U.S.…
Mark P. Fancher
The Folly of So-Called Foundational Black Americans
26 Mar 2025
So-called Foundational Black Americans may tell themselves they are noble protectors of ancestral legacy, but they are, in fact, little different from European groups in this country that…
Diaspora Pa'lante Collective
What is Esencia and what will happen to Puerto Rico if this is constructed?
26 Mar 2025
Capitalist developers and political opportunists are feeding off Puerto Rico's land and resources to privatize the island. The people suffer from deteriorating infrastructure and increasing…
Palestine Chronicle Staff
Gaza Journalists Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Mansour Killed in Israeli Airstrikes
25 Mar 2025
Journalists Hossam Shabat and Mohammed Mansour were killed in targeted Israeli airstrikes, as the death toll among media workers continues to rise.
Black Alliance for Peace NYC/NJ Citywide Alliance
BAP-NYC/NJ Condemns the Reopening of Delaney Hall
25 Mar 2025
BAP NYC/NJ calls on the masses to oppose the immigration incarceration system and imperialist population control in Our Americas.