Detroit Greens a local of the Green Party of Michigan

Green Party of Michigan
www.MIGreens.org

News Release
July 3, 2009

For More Information, Contact

Derek Grigsby, Chair/Detroit Green Party
dereknjck@yahoo.com
313-706-2985

John Anthony La Pietra, Media Cmte/GPMI
jalp@triton.net
269-781-9478

Green Party of Michigan calls for release of Cynthia McKinney
Boat containing humanitarian aid for Gaza boarded and detained by Israeli gunboats

Michigan and Detroit Green Party leaders are calling on the White House and US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of 21 human rights activists, including former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire, who were taken prisoner by the Israeli navy after gunboats surrounded and seized the Free Gaza Movement relief boat 'Spirit of Humanity' on Monday.

"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip," said Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for President of the United States. "President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey."

Detroit Greens call on former colleagues of Cynthia McKinney in the Black Congressional Caucus, Representatives John Conyers and Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, to join in demanding the immediate release of Rep. McKinney and her fellow activists. “We as Detroiters recognize that we are all fighting together to stop the insanity of war and economic crisis,” said Derek Grigsby, chair of the Detroit Green Party. “Too many of us are out of work, out of our homes, and out of food. The Palestinians are our sisters and brothers. The silence of our leaders in the face of the courage of Rep. McKinney and the Spirit of Humanity is complicity in their arrest, just as their lack of action for our needs, is complicity in our oppression.”

Read Cynthia McKinney's latest statement here: http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=232

Ms. McKinney had earlier sent appeals to President Obama and the State Department for assurances of protection for the relief mission. The Spirit of Humanity was sailing in international waters when it was seized. Greens stressed that the relief boat represents no threat to Israel and must be allowed to continue its voyage to Gaza.

For more information and updates, see the Free Gaza Movement web site (http://www.freegaza.org), including the latest release on the seizure of the relief boat (http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news).

For 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 Spirit of Humanity was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees, and children's toys to Gaza after the Israeli invasion in December and January damaged or destroyed 50,000 homes, 800 industrial properties, 200 schools, 39 mosques, and two churches. The supplies were confiscated by the Israeli navy.

The Green Party of the United States condemned the invasion and massacre of Palestinians and has endorsed the call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until the Israeli government guarantees full human rights, including political rights and democracy, for all Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis.

For the latest on the issues, values, and candidates of the Green Party of Michigan, please visit the party’s homepage:

www.MIGreens.org