“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” McKinney said in a statement.
“We are asking the international community to demand our release so we can continue our journey,” she added.
“My wife and I are very concerned about her safety,” Cynthia’s father told Press TV in a phone call.
Bill McKinney said that the US government should support Cynthia’s message and added, “Her major concern is human.”
Green Party leaders have called on the White House and the US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of all the activists.
On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying 1.5 million Palestinians living in the coastal sliver are ‘trapped in despair’ because of the continuing Israeli blockade on the territory.
Since June 2007, when Israel imposed a blockade on the territory, no raw material has entered Gaza, stalling any attempt to rebuild the strip.
According to the humanitarian agency report, seriously ill patients were not receiving the treatment they needed and thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed during Israel’s three-week Christmas war were still without shelter.
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Green Party: President Obama and the US State Dept. must demand release of Cynthia McKinney and 20 other human rights activists on Free Gaza relief boat seized by Israeli gunboats
Source: Green Party Web http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=230
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
The Free Gaza’s ‘Spirit of Humanity’ was delivering medical and other supplies following Obama’s call for relief to wartorn Gaza; the boat was in international waters
WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders are calling on the White House and US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of 21 human rights activists, including former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire, who were taken prisoner by the Israeli navy after gunboats surrounded and seized the Free Gaza Movement relief boat ‘Spirit of Humanity’ on Monday.
“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 candidate for President of the United States. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We’re asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”
Read Cynthia McKinney’s latest statement here: http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/970-call-off-your-attack-dogs-cynthia-mckinney
Ms. McKinney had earlier sent appeals to President Obama and the State Department for assurances of protection for the relief mission. The Spirit of Humanity was sailing in international waters when it was seized. Greens stressed that the relief boat represents no threat to Israel and must be allowed to continue its voyage to Gaza.
For more information and updates, see the Free Gaza Movement web site (http://www.freegaza.org), including the latest release on the seizure of the relief boat (http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/976-israel-attacks-justice-boat-kidnaps-human-rights-workers-confiscates-medicine-toys-and-olive-trees).
For communications and updates from Cynthia McKinney, visit her Green Party page (http://www.gp.org/cynthia/index.php) and blog (http://dignity.ning.com).
The Spirit of Humanity was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees, and children’s toys to Gaza after the Israeli invasion in December and January damaged or destroyed 50,000 homes, 800 industrial properties and 200 schools damaged or destroyed, 39 mosques, and two churches. The supplies were confiscated by the Israeli navy.
The Green Party of the United States condemned the invasion and massacre of Palestinians and has endorsed the call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until the Israeli government guarantees full human rights, including political rights and democracy, for all Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
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Israel Gunboats Ram Boat Carrying Cynthia McKinney, The People’s Secretary of State
Source: BayView
Editor’s note: We are calling Cynthia McKinney the people’s secretary of state not only because she braved an attack by Israeli gunboats on her way to Gaza to bring relief and investigate the current genocidal assault – the journey she describes here – but for repeatedly shining the light of truth to penetrate the U.S. government’s fog of lies hiding its complicity in genocide in the Congo, in 9/11, the “war on terror,” the “war on drugs,” attempted regime change in Venezuela and Cuba, where she recently attended an international human rights conference, and other flashpoints at home and abroad. Congresswoman McKinney is a mighty force for peace with justice.
by Cynthia McKinney
December 30, 2008: Oh, what a day!
I’m so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook and to write everything down because that’s exactly what I did.
When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me, “Are you afraid?” And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn’t afraid; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t afraid. But little did I know that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my life and mentally preparing myself for death.
When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I remember the time when it might have been beautiful to look at, but it was also filthy. The Europeans have taken great strides to clean it up and yesterday, it was beautiful. And the way the sunlight hit the sea, I remember thinking to myself that’s why they call it azure. It was the most beautiful blue.
But sometimes it was rough, and we got behind on our schedule. We stayed on course, however, despite the roughness of the water and due to our exquisite captain.
There were no other ships or boats around us and night descended upon us all rather quickly. It was the darkest black and suddenly, out of nowhere, came searchlights disturbing our peace. The searchlights stayed with us for about half an hour or so. We knew they were Israeli ships. Who else would they be?
They were fast, and they would come close and then drop back. And then they’d come close again. And then all of a sudden there was complete blackness once again and all seemed right. The cat and mouse game went on for at least one half hour. What were they doing? And why?
Calm again. Black sky, black sea. Peace. And then, at that very moment when all seemed right, out of nowhere we were rammed and rammed again and rammed again, the last one throwing me off the couch, sending all our food up in the air; and all the plastic bags and tubs – evidence of sea sicknesses among the crew and passengers – flew all over the cabin and all over us.
We’d been rammed by the Israelis. How did we know? Because they called us on the phone afterwards to tell us that we were engaging in subversive, terroristic activity. And that if we didn’t turn around right then and return to Larnaca, Cyprus, we would be fired upon.
We quickly grabbed our lifevests and put them on. Then the captain announced that the boat was taking on water. We might have to evacuate. One of my mates told me to prepare to die. And I reflected that I have lived a good and full life. I have tasted freedom and know what it is. I was right with myself and my decision to join the Free Gaza movement.
I remembered my father’s parting words, “You all will be sitting ducks.” Just like the U.S.S. Liberty. We were engaged in peaceful activity, a harmless pleasure boat carrying a load of hospital supplies for the people of Gaza, who, too, are sitting ducks, currently being bombarded in aerial assault by the Israeli military.
It’s been a long day for us. The captain was outstanding. Throughout it all, he remained stoic and calm, effective in every way. I didn’t know how to put my life jacket on. One of the passengers kindly assisted me.
Another of the passengers pointed out that the Israeli motors for those huge, fast boats were U.S. made – a gift to them from the U.S. And now they were using those motors to damage a pleasure boat outfitted with three tons of hospital supplies, one pediatrician and two surgeons.
I have called for President-elect Obama to say something. The Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are seeing the worst violence in 60 years, it is being reported. To date, President-elect Obama has remained silent.
The Israelis are using weapons supplied to them by the U.S. government. Strict enforcement of U.S. law would require the cessation of all weapons transfers to Israel. Adherence to international law would require the same. As we are about to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, let us remember that he said:
1. The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, and
2. Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.
I implore the president-elect not to send Congress a budget that contains more weapons for Israel. We have so much more to offer. And I implore the Congress to vote “no” on any budget and appropriation bills that provide more weapons transfers, period.
Israel is able to carry out these intense military maneuvers because taxpayers in the U.S. give their hard-earned money to our representatives in Congress and our Congress chooses to spend that money in this way. Let’s stop it and stop it now. There’s been too much blood shed. And while we still walk among the living, let us not remain silent about the things that matter.
We really can promote peace and have it if we demand it of our leaders.
We lived to tell the story: Lebanon rescued us
Jan. 1, 2009 – Yesterday, we met with the president of Lebanon, the chief of the military and the interior minister, who all thanked us for responding and risking our lives on a mission of mercy; we profusely thanked them for rescuing us.
What would we have done, stranded out at sea, prohibited from reaching our destination, low on fuel, with a badly damaged boat if Lebanon had not accepted us? Lebanon sent their ships to find us. Lebanon rescued us. Lebanon welcomed us. And we are truly thankful.
It’s official now. We’ve been told that the sturdy wood construction of our boat, Dignity, is the reason we are still alive. Fiberglass would probably not have withstood the impact of the Israeli attack and under different circumstances we might not be here to tell the story.
Even at that, the report that came to us yesterday after the captain and first mate went back to Sour (Tyre) to inspect the boat was that it was sinking, the damage is extensive and the boat will take, in their estimation, at least one month to repair. Tomorrow, we will bring the Dignity from Sour to Beirut. And now, we must decide what to do and from where we will do it and how we are to get back to wherever that might be.
My personal – and I know the group’s – thanks must go to Al Jazeera that allowed three of their reporters to be onboard with us on our voyage. As a result, Al Jazeera carried the story of the Dignity live, from castoff in Cyprus when our spirits were high, right up through the menacing maneuvers of the huge, super fast Israeli ships before they rammed us, the Israeli calls on the ship phone after the ramming calling us terrorists and subversives and telling us to return to Cyprus (even though the Israelis later claimed that they didn’t know who we were, they knew enough about us to tell us where we had come from), and the fact that we didn’t have enough fuel to follow their instructions, right up to their threat to fire at us if we didn’t turn around, ending with our beaten-up boat limping into Sour harbor in Lebanon.
Al Jazeera carried our story as “breaking news” and performed a real service to its audience and to us. Al Jazeera called the Israelis to inquire about the incident right as it was happening and I am sure the Israelis were prepared to leave none to tell the story. Al Jazeera told the story and documented it as it was happening
One of those Al Jazeera reporters with us was Sami al-Hajj, who was detained in Guantanamo by the United States for six incredibly long years. What an honor to even exchange glances with such a humble man who had endured so much pain at the hands of the U.S. government.
I apologized to him that my tax dollars were being used in such a despicable way. And Sami’s crime according to the U.S.? Born in Sudan, and reporting for Al Jazeera in Afghanistan, Sami was the wrong color, the wrong nationality, the wrong religion, reporting for the wrong news outfit, telling us the truth about a wrong war. And for that he survived incarceration for six long years. Sami al-Hajj, Guantanamo prisoner number 345.
Another incredibly committed journalist who was with us was CNN’s Karl Penhaul. Karl reported the truth even when his own station was repeating Israeli disinformation. The fact that we were traveling with these alert journalists added to the flat-footedness and obvious crudeness of the Israeli response. Sadly, Israel has changed its story too many times to count, and that’s because they are not telling the truth.
We lived to tell the tale. Karl’s incredible reporting, just a portion of our story, can be seen on CNN, where there’s also video and a photo of our damaged boat. A little more of the story and film of the extensive damage can be seen here. [The videos appear to have been disabled on the CNN site as of Jan. 4, but CNN's main video news clips are posted here following this story. - ed.]
This video and the photos of Karl’s report are particularly interesting given that Israel claims that our boat was only scratched and that, in actuality, our captain, while trying to outmaneuver them, damaged their warship.
I’m told that CNN only played my full statement once – and that’s the time that it aired live. Of course, they cut the reference to the U.S.S. Liberty. What are they afraid of?
Last night I was on PressTV.com, along with others who were on the Dignity, and we debated a representative from WINEP, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. I reminded the audience that the Palestinians don’t have nuclear weapons, depleted uranium munitions, white phosphorous, or F-16s, but the Israelis do. The facts, however, tend to get garbled after being processed by the “Grand Wurlitzer” organ of state-sponsored disinformation utilizing the world’s press.
With the truth clearly on our side, Israel has been reduced to releasing the ridiculous bombast below, given to me by a reporter who came to our hotel in Beirut for a visit. With their multiple, conflicting stories, it is clear that the Israelis did not expect us to live to tell the truth.
On the drive from Sour through Saida to Beirut, we were welcomed like heroes because our ordeal had been seen by everyone on Al Jazeera. The mayor of Sour came to welcome us. The mayor of Saida insisted that we stop there, on our way to Beirut, for a special ceremony.
But there was something else that was visible along our drive, and that is the devastation that Lebanon, itself, has received as a result of the Israeli war machine. The scars of the war are still evident everywhere. I will write more on that tomorrow.
And one final note: President-elect Obama roared like a mighty lion onto the political scene, but now he is as silent as a lamb in the face of the death and destruction that is happening in Gaza. As we approach the birthday celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., let us remember what Dr. King said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
And after five days of aerial bombardment by Israel, the carnage in Gaza continues.
Here is the palaver that the Israelis put out for public consumption. It is pitiful that a powerful and mighty country like Israel would be reduced to publishing something so petty and weak as the following press release dated Dec. 30, 2008:
“Press Release
“Office of Media Affairs
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“12.30.2008
“Israel continues to take its humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza seriously. Border crossings into Gaza remain open, and every effort is being made to deliver aid to the Palestinian people. Nearly 100 trucks carrying relief supplies entered Gaza on the 28th & 29th of December and additional shipments are arriving. Israel is working closely with UNSCO, UNRWA, the Red Cross, and WHO to ensure the entry of the required aid, especially food and medical equipment.
“Unfortunately, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has taken it upon herself to commit an act of provocation, leading a small boat of supposed assistants into the conflict zone. She endangered herself, her assistants, and the vessel’s crew. The Israeli navy hailed Ms. McKinney but the former Congresswoman failed to respond, thereby leading to the incident. We regret that during this time of crisis, while Israel is battling with the terrorist organization of Hamas and defending its citizens, that we are forced to deal with Ms. McKinney’s irresponsible behavior.
“Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast
“1100 Spring St NW, Ste 440
“Atlanta, GA 30309-2823
“Michael Printy Arthur
“Director of Media Affairs
“404.487.6511
“media@atlanta.mfa.gov.il”
For news from, by and about Cynthia McKinney, former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, subscribe for her updates at http://lists.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/listinfo.cgi/updates-allthingscynthiamckinney.com.
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RELATED NEWS
1. Israeli Gunboats Ram Boat Carrying Cynthia Mckinney, The People’s Secretary of state
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4. Petition for the release of Cynthia McKinney…captured by Israel
DIarsipkan di bawah: Israel, Middle East, Palestina, Politic
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