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


  • Mississippi Goddam
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Mississippi Goddam
    09 Sep 2022
    Jaribu Hill is Director of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights. She joins us to discuss a Mississippi political scandal involving a former governor who gave millions of dollars in funds…
  • Let Cuba Live
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Let Cuba Live
    09 Sep 2022
    Steven Hardge works on mutual aid and community survival projects and programs as a community organizer with Endstate Atlanta. He joins us to discuss his recent trip to Cuba as part of a Community…
  • Black Politics in San Francisco, Part I
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Politics in San Francisco, Part I
    09 Sep 2022
    Jemma Decristo is a community organizer in San Francisco, where a Black mayor and other officials enact policies against the unhoused and the poor and where gentrification continues. She joins us…
  • Biden's MAGA Obsession Won't Help Democrats
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Biden's MAGA Obsession Won't Help Democrats
    07 Sep 2022
    Because Joe Biden and democrats act on behalf of the oligarchy instead of the people, they now risk a mid-term election loss. His solution to this political problem is to speak endlessly…
  • INTERVIEW: To the Point of Production: An Interview with John Watson of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, 1969
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    INTERVIEW: To the Point of Production: An Interview with John Watson of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, 1969
    07 Sep 2022
    A 1969 interview with a founder of Detroit’s League of Revolutionary Black Workers reminds us of the radical genius and hope of Black labor.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us