Cynthia McKinney Reportedly Freed by Israelis

The former Georgia congresswoman who was detained by Israeli forces when the ship in which was traveling attempted to defy a blockade of Gaza has been released. Cynthia McKinney, a longtime Democrat before becoming a Green Party presidential candidate, is now on her way back home, according to her mother, Leola McKinney. “We finally got word that she was released,” Leola McKinney said late Sunday afternoon. “We don’t know what time she is supposed to fly out. All we know is that they took her to the airport. I would be more relieved when I know she’s on the flight, but I am relieved that she’s away from there.” Cynthia McKinney has been held by the Israelis since last Tuesday. She and other members of the activist group Free Gaza Movement said they were trying to deliver food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza. The detention marked the second time since December that McKinney was detained by Israeli authorities. In the previous episode, McKinney’s vessel collided with an Israeli naval ship as it ignored the blockade.

Somebody’s Watching You, Lancaster, Pa.

By the end of the month, the moderately sized city of Lancaster, Pa., will be the most heavily monitored community in America. The 55,000-resident city will have 165 cameras watching residents and visitors, and a non-profit, private group, the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition, will do the surveilling.  It’s not that Lancaster is a crime-ridden community. After all, there have been only two killings this year and 109 incidents of aggravated assault, Lancaster Police Lt. Todd Umstead told The Philadelphia Inquirer. But crime is up from last year. Some have lauded the security efforts as an important step toward a utopian crime-free community, while others have blasted the idea as obscene government intrusion into people’s lives. The cameras, which are hidden inside of black bubbles hung from white street lights, swivel, pan and zoom, and they are “powerful enough to make out a face or a license plate a block or more away,” according to the Inquirer.

Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was among several peace activists on a ship that was intercepted by Israeli forces Tuesday as they attempted to defy a blockade of Gaza, BBC News reported. This marks the second time over the past several months that McKinney, a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus, had an encounter with Israeli forces in the region. In December, the ship she was in collided with an Israeli naval vessel. The most recent encounter occurred as the Greek-registered Arion was in the Mediterranean Sea 23 miles off the Gaza coast, according to BBC. The vessel was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement told BBC. McKinney blasted the Israeli’s actions, calling them “an outrageous violation of international law against us.” The Israeli consulate general, however, accused McKinney of a “reckless political stunt. Once again former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and her fellow travelers have taken it upon themselves to disregard their own safety, as well as the safety of the vessel’s crew, by leading a boat into restricted waters,” the consulate general’s office in Atlanta said in a statement.

 A day after Israelis raided the Gaza Strip, even ramming the boat occupied by former Georgia Democrat Cynthia McKinney, the African Union Israel’s actions, calling on the United Nations Security Council to force the Jewish state to back down. “The (AU) Commission strongly condemns the ongoing air raids on the Gaza Strip by Israel since 27 December,” the union said in a statement. “This massive and disproportionate attack constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and will further aggravate the suffering of the civilian population, which, as a result of the siege imposed by Israel, has been faced by shortages of food, medicine and fuel.” The African Union urged the Security Council and members of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet “to fully assume their responsibilities toward the civilians in the Gaza Strip by compelling Israel to an immediate ceasefire.” It also pleaded with the nations of the world to increase medical and humanitarian aid to victims of the attacks. On Monday, McKinney, the 2008 Green Party candidate and the first African-American woman elected to Congress from the state of Georgia, joined more than a dozen high-profile leaders who headed to the region aboard a medical supply ship on a humanitarian mission. The yacht, owned by the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement, collided with an Israeli gunboat, which had fired machine guns into the water to stop the vessel’s progress, FOX News reported. At least 360 Palestinians, including more than 50 civilians, have been killed in the raids, according to officials.

Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney headed to Gaza Monday, part of a group of activists going to provide medicine to victims in the war-ravaged region. McKinney, the first Black woman to represent Georgia, ran as the Green Party candidate for president after losing her congressional seat in 2006. McKinney’s father, former Georgia state Rep. Billy McKinney, said her mother did not want her to go. “But I think that certain people have missions in life and you can’t deter them,” he said. The trip to Gaza was organized by the Free Gaza Group, which launched its 66-foot yacht called “SS Dignity” from Cypress. The effort defies an Israeli blockade. The supplies McKinney and others are transporting to the area are for people wounded from Israeli bombings against targets in Gaza, in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns. Israel’s 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.