Reposted from Green Party Watch
News 24 in South Africa is reporting that Cynthia McKinney was abruptly removed from a flight to South Africa, where she was to be a speaker at the Palestinian Struggle and Human Spirit Film Festival:
Cape Town – A controversial former member of the American congress and a 2008 [Green Party] presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney, was abruptly removed from a South African Airways flight on Tuesday.
McKinney, who stood against President Barack Obama at an early stage in the race for the US presidency, was barred from boarding an SAA flight to Johannesburg in Washington DC.
She would have travelled to South Africa to act as international guest speaker on the Channel 4 network’s first Palestinian Struggle and Human Spirit film festival, which will be held in Athlone from Friday to Sunday.
Passport irregularities
According to SAA, McKinney was refused access to the flight because there were irregularities with her passport.
She became known worldwide when, in her capacity as senator [correction: McKinney was a Congressperson], she introduced articles of impeachment against former US president George W Bush, former vice-president Dick Cheney, and former secretary of state Condaleezza Rice, over the 9/11 attacks and their roles in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
McKinney was recently arrested by the Israeli navy for participating in a Free Gaza Movement boat trip in protest against the occupation of Gaza.
Channel 4 said on Wednesday it is still unclear whether she will be allowed to enter the country.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Mik Robertson // Oct 1, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I thought she was a congresswoman, not a senator.
2 paulie // Oct 1, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Yep, they messed that up.
3 Deran // Oct 2, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Hmmm, I wonder how strong the Israel lobby is in South Africa ,,,
4 Kimberly Wilder // Oct 3, 2009 at 9:16 am
Will try to make a post with the follow-up.But, too tired after late-night peace meeting…
To let you know…
A new report said Cynthia was rebooked and may get to South Africa for conference.
The reason the airline gave for taking her off the plane was that she did not have enough “Blank” pages in her passport. (Why would they not figure that out until after she took her seat???)
5 Kimberly Wilder // Oct 3, 2009 at 11:52 am
Mik, Thanks for catching that. Made a note.
6 Khalil Amod // Oct 7, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Cynthia arrived in SA, but a day later. The Gala Welcome dinner had to be cancelled which led to a major financial loss for the host. The festival went off very successfully, with 6 premier documentary releases. Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian activist, also spoke at the festival.
Thanks for all your concerns.
Khalil Amod, CEO, Channel 4 Network, SA.
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