Israel deports activists heading to Gaza
JERUSALEM - Israel yesterday deported a former US congresswoman, a Nobel peace prize laureate, and other activists who were arrested and jailed after trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli navy commandeered their boat last week as it tried to sail from Cyprus to Gaza. It was the latest in a series of trips by activists trying to bring attention to the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the territory after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power there two years ago.
There were 21 passengers and three tons of medical aid on board, and most of the activists were quickly expelled. But Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, along with six other activists, remained in Israeli custody until the government arranged flights for them, said Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad.
Israel says the embargo is a response to Hamas’s hostility toward the Jewish state, including attacks by Gaza militants at crossings used to deliver cargo into the coastal strip.
The blockade has caused significant economic hardship in Gaza, sparking international criticism. Gaza suffers shortages of many basic items, such as cooking oil, diapers, and construction materials needed to rebuild the area following an Israeli military offensive early this year.
McKinney was a representative from Georgia and the Green Party’s candidate for president in 2008.
Maguire won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work among Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
