Green Party Watch

By clicking on this article’s headline you will be able to read a statement from Greta Berlin of the Free Gaza Movement forwarded by David Josue, a McKinney supporter, and from John Judge, McKinney’s press secretary during her 2008 Presidential bid.

Forwarded by David Josue…

Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009, 3:35 AM

One of Cynthia’s friends received a phone call from Ramle prison. The incarcerated prisoners are calling themselves “Free Gaza 21″ even though Huwaida and Lubna have been released. Below is Cynthia’s statement:

“We were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza when the Israeli Navy ships surrounded us and illegally threatened us, dismantled our navigation equipment, boarded and confiscated the ship.

All of us on board were then taken off the ship and into custody, and brought into Israel and imprisoned. Immigration officials in Israel said they did not want to keep us, but we remain imprisoned. State Department and White House officials have not effected our release or taken a strong public stance to condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli Navy of enforcing a blockade of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians of Gaza, a blockade that has been condemned by President Obama.”

–
Greta Berlin
Free Gaza Movement
357 99 284 102

http://www.freegaza.org

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/

* * * * *

Update from John Judge, Cynthia McKinney’s 2008 presidential campaign media director and former congressional staffer….

Please distribute information on their location and situation and their name:

I just got a call from former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from inside an Israeli prison at Ramale where she and 20 other humanitarian aid workers from 9 different countries are still being held by Israeli authorities. US Embassy officials have spoken to Ms. McKinney and are aware of the situation. Four of the group are US citizens. Among them is Mairead Maguire, from Ireland, a Nobel laureate and renowned peace activist. They have named themselves the “Free Gaza 21.” They are demanding their release.

My note:

They were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza when Israeli Navy ships surrounded them and illegally threatened them, dismantled their navigation equipment, boarded and confiscated the ship. All those aboard were then taken off the ship and into custody, and brought into Israel and imprisoned. Immigration officials in Israel said they did not want to keep them, but they remain imprisoned. State Department and White House officials have not effected their release or taken a strong public stance to condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli Navy, enforcing a blockade of humanitarian assistance that has been condemned by President Obama.

– John Judge
Researcher, Lecturer, Congressional staff

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.