Detroit poet and songwriter Wardell Montgomery holding a placard demanding the lifting of the Israeli embargo on Gaza. The demonstration was called to oppose the Honduran military coup and the detention of Cynthia McKinney. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Detroit Demonstration Against Honduran Military Coup and the Israeli Detention of Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Other Human Rights Workers
by Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
DETROIT, July 1, 2009 (PANW)--A demonstration near the riverfront in downtown Detroit condemned both the military coup in Honduras as well as the Israeli detention of former United States Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was traveling with other human rights workers to deliver aid to Gaza when they were detained on June 29.
The demonstration was called jointly by the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) and Latinos Unidos.
Protestors held placards along Jefferson avenue during rush hour to engage the public around issues that have an immediate impact on U.S. relations with the Middle-East and Latin America.
In Honduras President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown and forcibly exiled to Costa Rica. The Honduran military is financed and trained by the U.S. There is a military presence in the country of U.S. troops. The coup has been met by resistance inside the country and the region.
With the detention of Cynthia McKinney and other human rights workers, Israel has raised the level of tensions within the African-American community as well as among Palestinians and other peoples in the region. Cynthia McKinney has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and statehood. Her support for Palestine and opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan led to her departure from Congress and the Democratic Party.
The Free Gaza Movement, which organized the trip, has attempted to deliver aid before and was stopped by the Israeli Navy. Last winter, during the siege of Gaza, Mckinney was aboard the "Dignity" which was refused the right to carry out its aid delivery mission.
The Israeli government says that it will release the 20 or more passengers from the "Spirit of Humanity" vessel after they are checked by immigration. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli military siege during December 2008 and January 2009.
Gaza has been under a blockade since the majority elections of Hamas during the last poll organized by the Palestinian Authority. Recently the Obama administration has stated that it wants to jumpstart talks between the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel.
Detroit, with its large Middle-Eastern community, was the scene of substantial demonstrations against Israeli aggression and the U.S. backing of the Zionist state.
On January 8, MECAWI, in solidarity with the Congress of Arab American Organizations, mobilized thousands in a demonstration through downtown beginning at the McNamara Federal Building and ending with a rally at Central United Methodist Church.
Signs carried by activists on July 1 in downtown Detroit called for the end of the blockade of Gaza, the release of Cynthia McKinney, the restoration of civilian rule in Honduras and the suspension of U.S. aid to the military regime in Honduras and the Israeli government in Palestine.
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Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The author has written extensively on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle-East and Latin America.
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July 1, 2009
Detroit protest calls for end to U.S. aid to Honduras
By Niraj Warikoo
Free Press Staff Writer
Updated at 5:59 p.m.
About a dozen people rallied at Hart Plaza today against the military coup in Honduras and called for an end to U.S. aid to the Latin American government.
“Stop U.S. military aid to Honduras military govt.,” read a sign held by Reuben Metreger, 38, of Pinckney. “It’s a threat to democracy,” Metreger said.
Protesters said the United States is required under its own laws to suspend aid to the Honduran government because of the military coup against a democratic government. The coup forced President Manuel Zelaya into exile.
Mike Shane, 56, of Detroit held a sign that read “Restore Honduran President Zelaya.”
“I’m opposed to the military overthrow of a democratically elected government,” Shane said.
In Washington, the Obama administration said today it had suspended joint military operations with Honduras to protest the coup. But State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the administration was still studying whether Zelaya’s ouster was a military coup in a legal sense that would trigger a cutoff or suspension of U.S. financial aid.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: nwarikoo@freepress.com
Israel intercepts Free Gaza Movement’s aid ship
GAZA CITY (AP) – The Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying foreign peace activists trying to break a blockade of Gaza on Tuesday and forced it to sail to an Israeli port, the military said.
A statement said the Greek-registered freighter Arion ignored a radio message from the Israeli military saying it would not be allowed to enter Gaza waters and ordering it to turn back.
The statement said naval personnel boarded the small vessel without any shots being fired.
The military said those on board would be handed over to immigration authorities on arrival in the southern port of Ashdod, and humanitarian cargo would be trucked into the Gaza Strip after a security check. The ship arrived at Ashdod port after nightfall.
An earlier statement by the voyage's organizers, the Free Gaza Movement, said the vessel, renamed the Spirit of Humanity, left the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Monday bound for Gaza with three tons of medical supplies.
The 20 passengers include former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and other activists from Britain, Ireland, Bahrain and Jamaica.
The ship was flying a Greek flag, but no Greek citizens were aboard. The Greek government issued a statement saying it sent a message to Israel demanding that it release the ship, crew and passengers.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel was planning to free the crew and passengers. ""Nobody wants to keep them here,"" he said. ""They will be released as soon as they are checked.""
The Free Gaza Movement has organized five boat trips to Gaza since August 2008, defying a blockade imposed by Israel when the Islamic resistance movement Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007.
Two other attempts were stopped by Israeli warships during Israel's three-week war in the territory in December and January. Nobody on board was harmed.
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