These aren't peace activitists.  They are anti-American fools.  Too bad it
didn't sink...

===============================================

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/12/29/cynthia_mckinn
ey_gaza.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab&imw=Y

Updated: 10:28 a.m. December 30, 2008

McKinney relief boat hit by Israeli ship
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, December 29, 2008

A boat carrying international peace activists, including former Georgia
congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza
Strip sailed back into a Lebanese port on Tuesday after being turned back and
damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said.

The crowds on the docks in the Lebanese port city of Tyre were jubilant and
cheering as they welcomed the vessel.

The boat, which set off from Cyprus Monday wanted to make a statement and
deliver medical supplies to embattled Gaza. The trips organizers said the boat
was clearly in international waters, 90 miles off the coast of Gaza, at the
time of its close encounter with the Israeli navy.

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.

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israels Foreign Ministry, denied there had been
any shooting although the two ships had made physical contact.

Palmor said there was no response to a radio warning to the Dignity, and the
vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the
collision.

Cyprus state radio said the Cypriot government would seek explanations from
Israel over the incident.

McKinney called on President-elect Obama to address the Gaza crisis, saying the
weapons being used by Israel were supplied by the United States.

McKinney denied that the incident was an accident. What the Israelis are saying
is outright disinformation, she said. What happened to us last night was a
direct threat to our mission, but not our cause.

Palmor called those allegations absurd.

There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody, Palmor
said.

In a press release, the Free Gaza movement stated, Contrary to international
maritime law, the Israelis are actively preventing the Dignity from approaching
Gaza or finding safe haven in either Egypt or Lebanon. Instead, the Israeli
navy is demanding that the Dignity return to Cyprus  despite the fact that the
ship does not carry enough fuel to do so.

McKinney is a high-profile member of a boatload of activists that set sail
Monday from Cyprus to deliver medicine to war-torn Gaza.

McKinney, who ran as the Green Party candidate for president, sees the voyage
as a humanitarian mission, said her father, former Georgia state Rep. Billy
McKinney.

Her mother did not want her to go, he said, referring to concerns at home for
her safety. But I think that certain people have missions in life and you cant
deter them.

The activists, organized by the Free Gaza Group, said their 66-foot yacht
called SS Dignity would defy an Israeli blockade of Gaza and ferry 16 activists
and three tons of Cypriot-donated supplies. The supplies are intended to help
treat the wounded from Israeli bombings against targets in Gaza, in retaliation
for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

Israels aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip continued for a third day on
Monday. By Monday, the death toll rose to 364, with some 1,400 reported
wounded, according to Palestinian medical officials.

McKinney had sent an e-mail days ago to friends and supporters saying she
intended to go to Gaza, said Hugh Esco, a Decatur resident who ran her
presidential campaign Web site.

She has stood with people all over this planet against oppression, said Esco.

McKinney said she will petition President-elect Barack Obama to speak out
against the attacks on Gaza.

The Free Gaza group has made five deliveries of aid by boat to Gaza since
August, defying a blockade imposed by Israel when Hamas won control of the
territory in June 2007. Organizers say they are aware they may be stopped this
time.

I dont know if shell get off the boat, her father said. I hope she gets back
safely.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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