Cynthia McKinney: Boat Attacked By Israeli Forces

Ha'aretz reports that a boat carrying aid to Gaza clashed with Israel's navy. The activists on board the boat say they were shot at; an Israeli spokesman denies this account.

An Israel Navy ship clashed on Tuesday with a small boat carrying international activists with aid destined for Gaza, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

There were no reported casualties from the incident involving the small cabin cruiser "Dignity" that sailed from Cyprus late on Monday.

One of the boat's passengers was former congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney.

The 66-foot yacht Dignity, flying the flag of Gibraltar, left Larnaca Monday with almost 4 tons of Cypriot-donated supplies and 16 passengers, including former US Representative Cynthia McKinney, Cypriot lawmaker Eleni Theocharous and activists from Britain, Australia, Ireland and Tunisia, organizers said.

"Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side," McKinney told CNN Tuesday morning. "Our mission was a peaceful mission. Our mission was thwarted by the aggressiveness of the Israeli military."

Comments

[janeinmia]

I am a Jew -- I consider this whole Gaza crisis a horrid embarrassment to Jews, including this attack on a ship carrying aid to innocent victims of these ceaseless warmongers (Hamas and the Israelis).

[ema]

Same here.

[guajiro]

Well said.

[PippiLongstocking]

Me too... except for being Jewish.

[thepoliticalcat]

Absolutely. The fact is, Bush forced the early elections in Palestine despite repeated warnings that Hamas would win. Now Hamas has won, and maybe we don't care for them, but that is what democracy means. Free and fair elections and respect for the will of the people. Instead of sitting down to peace talks, my heavens, these people just keep on fighting and the result is human rights violations in the extreme. I just want it to end. Any Jew who knows and respects hir own history must be writhing in shame. This is just like the pogroms.

[tx xplant]

Help me out here. Nobody seems to be carrying this story. Maybe it is just a "story." One would think that if the incident happened, THIS site would have it in BOLD for all to see.

http://www2.irna.ir/en/frontpage/menu-232/

[Oahspe]

Firedoglake has done several stories today-as has Democratic Underground. Extremely disappointing here at HuffPo that a "Pistol "Palin story has about three times more comments. What does that tell you?

[marbou888]

MSM is waiting for the Izzzraeli translation of what Ahmadinejad said.

[Oahspe]

Where's Jewish "guilt" about doing this to one's fellow man? And Hannukah week,no less! Oy vey.

[allainjules]

Thank you Cyntia !

[westreal]

That is a gawd damm shame!

[canarypapers]

I have always found Cynthia McKinney to be on the side of right. She is a fine human being, a brave fighter and a true American patriot, in the most genuine sense of the word. What a pity her voice was silenced on Capitol Hill during the Bush years. We need more politicians like her, who are so committed to their sacred trust as lawmakers, that they cannot be bought at any price.

[guajiro]

I too admire Cynthia McKinney tremendously. She has always told it like it is, even when she knows the power brokers in this country will attack her. She is of the same cloth as Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, and others not afraid to take on the powerful. Would that knee-jerk American citizens understand this better.

[guajiro]

I too have long admired Ms. McKinney.
"In 1992, in her first race for Congress in what was then Georgia's 11th District, McKinney made it clear she wouldn't be beholden to the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Stine said McKinney though AIPAC was heavy-handed in demanding her endorsement of their positions in return for their support." From an old link.

http://www.atljewishtimes.com/archives/1999/110599cs.htm

Pretty clear why the Right doesn't like her.

[Cheesemelt]

Having lost handily in the Democratic primary of '02, you seem to imagine her dislike doesn't cross party lines.

As a lifelong Democrat, and so-called NY liberal, I can assure you I don't like her at all, and I'm hard-pressed to find anyone in my personal political or social circles who does.

Framing this larger issue in a left/right sensibility suggests you don't appreciate the support for Israel on both sides of the aisle.

[Shawn123]

Umm. No, Rep. McKinney despite being a fine human being- during the course of her interview with CNN was completely over the top and contradicted the version of events offered by a CNN correspondent on the same boat in favor of offering a diatribe against her treatement. Please keep in mind that the boat wa moving in the dark, was shadowed for roughly 1/2hour before the contact was made. Ms. Kinney made it clear that they were rammed without any provocation. Let me clear- I supported Ms McKinney' s bid in the election but her version of events was flawed and she uses it as a platform to bemoan Israel's justification to war (in which she is justified) as opposed to the fact that the situation that the boat wandered into was defined as a war zone- so.... don't be shocked if your 45 ft yacht is rammed when wandering into a harbor designated as a war zone. They were followed from international waters until they were within soveriegn waters of israel.

[RTIII]

Your version of events doesn't match other reporting easily found on the web...
.

[demright]

June 8 1967 / USS Liberty revisited.

[rigormrtis]

uh, not even close.

[johnqeniac]

Not in scale but in kind - Israel has always demonstrated that when it comes to its policies it will punish any one - friend, foe, or neutral - who gets in its way - either intentionally or accidentally.

[LittlePurpleUSA]

Kinda what I was thinking.

[Oahspe]

The USS Liberty Cover-UpA former Navy attorney who helped lead the military investigation of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 American servicemen says ...
whatreally­happened.c­om/WRHARTI­CLES/ussli­berty.html - 14k - Cached - Similar pages

[CessnaDriver]

For those of you who don't know about the USS Liberty incident, google it, or look on Wikipedia.

The terrible fire on the USS Forrestal happened about the same time. I remember my father, a former Navy enlisted man, being really pissed about the Navy and administration whitewash of both. Also notice the name of the pilot who's plane apparently started the whole thing.

As for the Liberty, LBJ himself stopped the Navy from sending air cover. Let's hope that the wishes of the Liberty crew and families come true and the Obama administration investigates this.

[CessnaDriver]

Interesting...I have had two posts about the Liberty incident deleted today...could it be that I also mentioned the "CV 59" in my text? The World Wonders...

[Palemoon]

This should be brought up before the International Criminal Court. This attack, shades of the USS Liberty attack, was perpetrated in International waters. They were not in Israeli waters, or even anywhere near Gaza. That's why they had to seek help in Beirut, Lebanon, since that was the closest port to them.

[BubbaC33]

Each and every day ships of all sorts are prevented from getting to the US. Israel has a right and an obligation to search any vessel nearing a war zone. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and dangerous for members of the IDF.

[Cheesemelt]

Good grief, talk about hysterical reactions and baseless accusations.

http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/12/29/cynthia_mckinney_gaza.html

The facts of this case will be settled, but this is a tempest in a teapot and yet another example of the almost insane anti-Israel bias shown in much of the MSM, and by HP commenters who invent facts and manufacture outrage.

Believe me, there's plenty of real outrage to be felt by both sides in this, but this McKinney nonsense and the return of the ghost of the US liberty (a completely unrelated issue) demonstrates a level of hysteria and hostility that is just the height of ignorance and the depth of depraved minds.

[take10]

Americans had better wake up. Our foreign policy must first be approved by Israel before implementation. How else do they demand BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS AND YET CONTINUE TO DO AS THEY PLEASE WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT. THEY DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT THEY DON'T WISH FOR THEMSELVES. They have ignored every UN initiative aimed at restoring peace in the region. Why we keep awarding them with our treasure for acts of indifference toward the rest of the world is a mystery. It was the USA who intervened in the Europe to the benefit of the Jewish people. Instead of gratitude, we are treated as though they rescued us. There has to be a better way to deal with the issue at hand. I know this! If you stole my land and home, you'd never be able to keep it without a fight...

[lisakaz2]

Sounds like class boou$h policy to me.

[thaneb]

And your feelings on the Spanish colonists in the Americas? The native Americans? Or have you imposed some arbitrary time limit?

[sector1463]

Which arbitrary time limit? 2000 years? Since 1948? or since when? If it happened a year ago is that long enough?

The Palistinians who were forced out of their homes, off the land their families have had for the past 2000 years have every reason to feel like they are captives.

The Israelis need to feel safe too.

Peace is only an option when all sides want it. Both sides need to see that they all can live together. It won't be easy. But it can happen if all of the people involved want peace!

[jamilk99]

So because the Europeans colonized the Americas, that excuses European Jews colonizing Palestine and turning it into Israel?

[lynjs]

I must agree. Enough is enough. It is alright to be an ally to a country, but it is time for the US and the UN to force Israel to play honest broker with the Palestinians.

They'd either do it or the military equipment that we gave them that they are using for unnecessary destruction had better last because they'd get no more. Those billions that we give them each year in aid could be used here. They'd get no more of that either.

With 9/11, the stakes were raised higher. Get rid of that conflict and one aspect of the terrorist agenda will end. The other half we must do ourselves by stopping the meddling and forcing our western ideas on the Arab world. Let them get there at their own pace.

This has been going on for 60 years; made worse by splitting the state up and forcing Palestians from their ancestoral lands on the Israeli side. All they have gotten is disdain for their existence. It is time for a change in strategy. And that change is to call Israel out on the carpet for their heavy handed misdeeds.

[sector1463]

Both sides need to be called out, and both sides need to see that peace is the only way for their people to survive. For peace to work all sides need to want it.

[BubbaC33]

The US did not intervene in Europe for the Jewish people. In act, Jews were sent back to Germany after the govrnment knew about the Final Solution.

[take10]

Seems to me that you and cheesemelt lack comprehension. I never said that the USA intervened in Europe for the Jewish people. I said they were beneficiaries of the intervention. If you refute this fact, then it is you who need a history lesson. As for Saudi Arabia and the 9-11 hijackers, cheesemelt is correct. However, We didn't invade Saudi Arabia. The first act of the Bush administration was to gather all of Bin Laden's family and secret them out of the US. Ever wonder why our President would do such a thing?

[Cheesemelt]

"It was the USA who intervened in the Europe to the benefit of the Jewish people. "

Good grief, your knowledge of history is astounding (as in astoundingly bad!) Our European adventures had nothing whatsoever to do with the Jews of Europe.

" I know this! If you stole my land and home, you'd never be able to keep it without a fight..."

Presumably then you won't object when Native Americans start to rain molotov cocktails down on your home? Good to know.

Incidentally, when you're done rending your garments over the amount of US aid to Israel, do some research on how much money we provide to Egypt in aid.

Then calculate how much money we've provided to the Saudis via our oil addiction. Oh, and then you might wish to recall that Saudi Arabia was the home of most of the 9-11 hijackers, the birthplace and spiritual center of bin Laden, and the place we spent billions protecting from Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf war.

[karela]

Israel would have looked a tad bad if the ship had sunk wouldn't it? Really. Ramming it three times? What were they thinking? Why doesn't Israel want the world to know what's going on to such an extent that they would ram a boat loaded with medical supplies going to a people who have wounded being cared for in private homes because the hospitals are full and without medical supplies?

[Cheesemelt]

Short memory, perhaps?

Iran has been smuggling arms into Gaza via Egypt and boats for some time.

See:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1208422633228

And feel free to google the topic for even greater depth and explanation. A 60' boat can hold an awful lot of munitions.

[lisakaz2]

You mean they can't tell the difference between guns and medical supplies?

[papapj]

So then you board the ship and search it if it is in your waters.

Simple.

Nobody in their right minds would deny a food/medicine delivery now, would they...?

[PimpOmega]

And your proof that Iran is involved in all this?

[thaneb]

It would seem they were thinking they did not want to sink the yacht. Had they wanted to they obviously could have sunk a small cabin cruiser. And they knew this boat from Gibraltar had medical supplies rather than weapons how?

[jamilk99]

So let's say there was a 50/50 chance that the boat contained either medical supplies or weapons, should the Israelis try to gather some evidence or just ram the boat in international waters regardless of the fact that they had no evidence of what was on it?

Sounds kinda like the invasion of Iraq - we think they might have some WMDs but we don't really have much evidence...aahh what the heck, let's just invade anyway!

[rinpochet]

I haven't seen this news anywhere but here. It should be checked out first before assuming this to be fact. BBC is generally a good source.

[Cheesemelt]

Had this boat been rammed three times, Cynthia would have had to swim to shore. An IDF patrol boat is a hardened war machine whereas the 60' yacht she was in, would have folded like a house of cards.

See:

http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/12/29/cynthia_mckinney_gaza.html

The facts of this case will be settled, but this is a tempest in a teapot and yet another example of the almost insane anti-Israel bias shown in much of the MSM, and by many commenters who invent facts and manufacture outrage.

Believe me, there's plenty of real outrage to be felt by both sides in this, but this McKinney nonsense and the return of the ghost of the US liberty (a completely unrelated issue) demonstrates a level of hysteria and hostility that is just shockingly bereft of critical thinking.

[Drjimmy72296]

Remember the Liberty

[j0em0mma]

Bingo

[leftoflennon]

CNN reporter Penhaul confirmed this as well

[LarBear]

Swimming against the Tide here...

Why is it with Organized Religion and Organized Politics, people behave like Sheeple, or Zombies (your choice) and behave mindless and /or reactive??? Basically unthinking and ignorant...

Forget the right, or wrong, beliefs... We have a Palestinian group, run by an Elected Hamas, who has sworn to destroy Israel... They have been firing rockets into Israel in a stupid attempt to kill Israelis... Israel, who is very well Militarily equipped and trained, is fighting for their very existence...

If your neighbor was sworn to annihilate you and was sniping at you and continued to do so, would you sit back and take it just because you are more powerful? Might you surround and blockade supplies until THEY decided to stop TRYING TO KILL YOU AND DECIDE, THAT YOU, LIKE THEM, HAVE A RIGHT TO EXIST???

Is Cynthia McKinney a Hero bringing supplies, or an Enabler assisting the ones doing the sniping??? Is what she was doing going to bring this to a stop sooner, or simply enable this to continue??? Is she looking for publicity and set out to provoke an Incident??? Will her Incident convince the Palestinian's and Hamas that Israel has a RIGHT TO EXIST???

It reminds me of the Republicans who helped enable the crashing of the World's Economy, now acting like WE need them, to Save US, from what THEY brought about....

[BMo2xl]

Israel has had a blockade of Gaza for almost 2 years preventing the entry of food, fuel, electricity and medical supplies. Where was your condemnation then? Children are starving and people are going without medicines like insulin and you expect them to remain non-violent until when? Until the last citizen in Gaza has died? Please! One's right to exist doesn't mean that one is allowed to deny someone else the same right. Israel's hypocrisy must either end because the good people of that country stand up or the rest of the world does. Enough is enough.

[Palemoon]

Everyone harps on the fact that Hamas said it had vowed to destroy Israel. But Israel has atomic weapons and has vowed to destroy not only the Palestinians, but anyone else in the middle east, as well as having, in the words of one of their former ministers, all of the European capitals targetted for destruction should that need arise. When I first found out the Israeli doctrine of pre-emptive war, even against Europe, I was appalled. These are not a peace loving people.

[thaneb]

Are you seriously suggesting Israel would use atomic weapons against the Palestinians? As its populace is not immune to the effects of radiation, that assertion is absurd. Please name the former minister so others can assess the accuracy of your statement.

[nickwib]

The Arab and wider Islamic peoples have never sincerely accepted the legitimacy of Israel’s creation and continue to oppose its existence so this analogy is not well founded. The Palestinians do not see themselves as neighbors attacking neighbors but as the rightful occupiers attacking interlopers.

[tyruler]

Yes LarBear,

You are swimming against the tide. Ms. McKinney is a hero, and only a sick twisted mind would call her or anyone shipping medical supplies to the Israeli prisoners of Gaza as "enablers of terrorists."

You want security for Israel and want them to recognize you? A good step would then be to start granting the Muslim population of Gaza and Palestine their right to security, freedom of travel/movement, and basic human dignity.

While Gaza suffers sonicbooms and aerial bombardment of AMERICAN TAXPAYER WEAPONS AND DOLLARS , over the wall and hills of Israel, the Israelis live like spoiled Western brats complaining about the victim oppressing the bully.

And we all know who mommy America is going to side with, so its best to quit harping.

[lisakaz2]

Isn't there a third choice? Isn't humanitarian aid neither because it's an act of charity?

[clevelandchick]

The Palestinian people have been pushed out of their homes and pushed into containment camps where Israel controls their movement and access to supplies they need to live like water, food, medicine and medical care. That happened well before "they" swore to annihilate Israel.

The Israeli Zionist settlers have been pushing Palestinians off of land they were given after WWII. They bulldoze their homes, they bulldoze their farms so they can't make a living. Pregnant Palestinian women and/or their infants die trying to get to hospitals because they're all in Israel and they can't get through the checkpoints.

If you have the guts, watch a documentary by Jewish Israeli citizens about the plight of Palestinians and the iron fist the hardliner Israel government swats them with:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2451908450811690589&ei=NbFaSc3eI4L8rgKk85juAg&q=Occupation+101

[Cheesemelt]

"That happened well before "they" swore to annihilate Israel. "

Israel's annihilation is part of the Hamas charter, and if you're too young to recall Fatah and Arafat making that part of their agenda, I do not blame you, but I would counsel you to study the history far more deeply.

The video in question is moving. It reminds us that many/most Israelis have a natural abhorrence for war and all its attendant horrors. It's just shame that the Islamist Hamas organization views war as a mean to martyrdom and their reason for being.

[Paladin]

To all those who scornfully surmise that this was a "publicity stunt": Well, duh! Of course it was, and I say BRAVO to Ms. McKinney!

One of the first steps to bringing about change to the world is to shine a bright light on those things that are wrong. As others have said, Cynthia McKinney has a history of doing this, and this latest episode is further proof that she is motivated by personal conviction, not political expediency (as is the case with so many other "leaders" -- including our President-Elect).

Even if you don't agree with her philosophy regarding the Gaza blockade, it's hard to find fault with the logic of her strategy: If the supplies are delivered, she's helped alleviate some suffering among the beseiged Palestinians. If the delivery is intercepted and stopped by Israel, then a light is shone on the IDF's heavy-handed tactics. Either way, something is gained for those they're trying to help.

But Cynthia McKinney and her fellow crewmembers had little to personally gain from this -- aside from perhaps the satisfaction of having done something good -- and VERY much to lose, including their very lives. It's not like their boat had a sign proclaiming "former U.S. Congresswoman on board: DON'T SHOOT." Others here are right. McKinney demonstrated courage, and I applaud her for it.

[any67ways]

her courage brings tears to my eyes - you are worthy of your name, Paladin_

[BMo2xl]

Israel has had a land, sea and air blockade of Gaza for almost 2 years preventing the Palestinian people from receiving electricity, fuel, food and medical supplies (insulin, dialysis machines, chemotherapy medicines, etc). The blockade was created to provoke a response and when, after 2 years of waiting for the international community to do something about this human rights crime the people in Gaza began to lob homemade rockets into Israel the apartheid Zionist government begins a massive bombing campaign into one of the most densely populated areas on the planet (about 4000 people per kilometer) claiming that the Palestinian people have acted violently and that Israel has a right to protect itself.

If Obama doesn't show some intestinal fortitude and set some limits with Israel and its massive lobby here in the USA I will regret having voted for him. I voted for change...not for a President who will be as complicit in Israeli crimes against the Palistinian people as George Bush.

[LarBear]

BMo2xl...

Is lobbing rockets into your neighbors land, as in the neighbor you claim has no right to exist, a Human Rights legality ( opposite of a violaton)???

[Manchurian]

If you were a prisoner in the world's largest prison, wouldn't you feel justified in using whatever means you had to regain the rights and freedoms every person should have?

[clevelandchick]

385 Palestinians dead. 5 Israelis. That's the difference between the power of their rockets vs. Israel's. Israel has violated the land agreements over and over. Israel started violating the rights of Palestinians well before they fought back.

800,000 Palestinians were kicked out of their homes and off their land to accommodate the post WWII immigration. Many of those 800,000 are still alive to remember the time they lost everything and were pushed out of their homes and off their land.

Israel's hands in this mess are no cleaner and right now they are the bully. They get billions in aide and arms from the US every year. They control all access to food, water and medical care for the Palestinians who live in abject poverty. Talk about David vs. Goliath.

[BMo2xl]

Lar Bear,

If my neighbor was denying my family food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity for almost 2 years because they don't like the way I run my home I would feel that I was entitled to do whatever necessary to stop the abuse...and I'm sure that you would do the same.

The rockets that are coming from Gaza are home-made and are in no way comparable to the 2-ton bombs falling on the most densely populated area on our planet (approx 4000 people per km). The rockets are so inefficient that very few Israelis have been effected as opposed to the Israeli rockets that have killed almost 300 Palestinians...most of them civilians and many of them children.

As for Israel's right to exist...why should the Palestinians have had to give up their land for a Zionist homeland? Why not the Germans or Austrians? If someone decided to give my home to someone else and make me and my family homeless you can be sure that I would fight until my dying breath to right that wrong...and I'm sure that you would, too.