[GPCA Updates] GP ADVISORY McKinney at DC's Reagan Nat'l Airport at 11:55 am ET today

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, July 7, 2009



Cynthia McKinney is scheduled to arrive at DC's Ronald Reagan 
National Airport today (Tuesday, July 7) at 11:55 am ET: will meet 
with reporters to discuss the illegal capture and detention of the 
Free Gaza 21 by Israel

• McKinney will meet with reporters upon her arrival;

• Daily vigil for the Free Gaza 21 and for Palestinians suffering
the effects of the Israeli occupation and the invasion of Gaza:
every evening at the Van Ness Metro Station (Red Line) near the
Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, 5 to 6 pm


WASHINGTON, DC -- Cynthia McKinney is scheduled to arrive at Ronald
Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, this morning (Tuesday,
July 7) following her detention in an Israeli prison during the past
week along with others in the 'Free Gaza 21'.

Ms. McKinney's flight (American - El Al Airlines 8139 from New York,
following a flight from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel
Aviv) will arrive at 11:55 am ET.

Reporters are invited to meet with Ms. McKinney, a former member of
Congress from Georgia and the Green Party's 2008 presidential
nominee, upon her arrival at the airport.  Interviews can also be
arranged: call Don DeBar at 914-945-0815.

Cynthia McKinney and 20 other human rights advocates involved in the
Free Gaza Movement (http://www.freegaza.org), including Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, were on board the Spirit of Humanity
to deliver medical supplies, construction materials, and toys to
Gaza when the boat was intercepted and seized by Israeli gunboats
last Monday.

The actions of the Israeli navy were illegal and constitute an act
of piracy, since the relief boat was in international waters.  After
the boat was captured, the passengers were detained in a prison in
Ramla, Israel.

Late last week, Israeli authorities pressed Ms. McKinney to sign a
statement in Hebrew (which Ms. McKinney does not speak) that
allegedly declared that the Spirit of Humanity was trespassing in
Israeli waters and violating Israeli law.  Ms. McKinney refused to
sign the statement.  As a result of her refusal, Ms. McKinney was
told that her detention would last three more days.  On Sunday, the
US embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed that McKinney and some others were
moved to the Ben Gurion International Airport in preparation for
their deportation.

Members and supporters of the Free Gaza 21 have expressed concern
about some of the human rights activists still held in Israel.
According to recent communications, Mairead Maguire had initially
chosen to stay in the Ramla prison in solidarity with Muslim members
of the Free Gaza 21 from Yemen, Jordon, the United Kingdom,
Scotland, Palestine, and Denmark, but a Haaretz (Israel) news
article has stated that Ms. Maguire would be deported
(http://wfww.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098033.html).  Accorrding to
later messages, the activists from the UK and Scotland are also
being deported.

Cynthia McKinney has stressed that President Obama had urged
delivery of medical and other supplies to Gaza in the wake of
Israel's brutal invasion last December and January.  Last Thursday,
the Green Party published the following statement from Ms. McKinney,
which was communicated by phone from her cell in Ramla:

"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."

In another communication, Ms. McKinney said, "It is incumbent upon
President Obama to stand by his reported policy of easing the Gazan
blockade and of allowing building supplies, medical supplies, and
school supplies to go through," adding "we call upon President Obama
to use the highest level of his authority to transmit this message
to the Israelis."

Audio clips of calls from Cynthia McKinney have been posted on line
(http://www.WBAIX.org).  For further information and updates, see
the Free Gaza Movement web site (http://www.freegaza.org).  For more
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 Green Party of the United States called for the immediate
release of the Free Gaza 21 and for permission for the Spirit of
Humanity to resume its delivery of urgently needed medical and other
supplies to Gaza (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=230).

Green leaders have urged party members and others concerned about
the situation to call the White House, the US State Department, and
members of Congress.  A daily vigil for the Free Gaza 21 and for
Palestinians suffering the effects of the Israeli occupation and the
invasion of Gaza is continuing each evening at the Van Ness Metro
Station (Red Line) near the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, from
5 to 6 pm.

On July 2, Democracy Now! interviewed Ms. Maguire from her prison cell
(http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/nobel_peace_laureate_mairead_maguire_speaks).


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
• International Committee of the Green Party:
http://www.gp.org/committees/intl

2009 Annual National Meeting of the Green Party, Durham, NC, July
23-26 http://www.gp.org/2009-ANM
• North Carolina page http://ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html
• Media credentialing page http://www.gp.org/forms/media

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United
States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


~ END ~