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<h1><b>Former US Presidential candidate on Free Gaza boat detained in
Cyprus</b></h1>
<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/date.gif" width=12 height=10 alt="author">
</b></h1><font size=3> Monday June 29, 2009
10:54<img src="http://www.imemc.org/graphics/person.gif" width=14 height=12 alt="author">
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
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</font>Cynthia McKinney, a former US Congressmember and 2004 Green Party
Presidential candidate, is currently in Cyprus with a group of human
rights activists determined to again break the Israeli siege on the Gaza
Strip, as they have several times in the past, by bringing humanitarian
aid to the people of Gaza by boat.<br><br>
McKinney was on one of the Free Gaza movement's boats in January, trying
to break the Israeli siege, when the boat was rammed in the side by an
Israeli gunship and started taking on water. The boat came close to
sinking, and McKinney has written a harrowing account of 'the night she
nearly died at sea'. Although she and the other boat passengers demanded
an investigation of the incident, no investigation has been carried out.
The current voyage is the first by the Free Gaza movement since the
ramming attack took place. <br><br>
Now, the former US Congressmember from the state of Georgia, has issued a
statement asking Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to intervene in what
she calls an “act of piracy on the high seas” that is being planned by
the Israeli government. The 'act of piracy' refers to an announced plan
by the Israeli navy to attack any incoming humanitarian aid ships in
international waters, as they did in January.<br><br>
The two boats that planned to set sail to Gaza last week, but have been
delayed in Cyprus, contain 3 tons of medical supplies, 15 tons of cement,
and boxes of toys and crayons for children - all materials banned by the
Israeli government from entering the besieged Gaza Strip.<br><br>
Israel has banned all of these supplies from entering the Gaza Strip,
where they are desperately needed after a 3-week long Israeli assault in
January left more than 30,000 Palestinians without homes, and thousands
injured by both conventional and unconventional (white phosphorus, DIME)
weapons. The siege on Gaza has been in place since June 2007, when the
Hamas party began governance in Gaza in accordance with the Palestinian
constitution, after having been duly elected by the populace in 2006.
Israel, which does not have a constitution, maintains a military
occupation over all Palestinian land (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip),
and imposed the siege in partnership with the United States, because they
did not like the party that the Palestinians had elected.<br><br>
In her statement, Cynthia McKinney called on the US President to live up
to his speech in Cairo several weeks ago, in which he stated, "So
let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is
intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate
Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their
own...Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that
Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as
it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in
Gaza does not serve Israel's security."<br><br>
McKinney added that the prevention of Israeli violence against the
humanitarian aid boats will be a “test of leadership” for both Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton, adding, “It will also put to the test their
lofty rhetoric about ending the oppression and humiliation of
Palestinians.”<br><br>
<br><br>
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