The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviews 2008 Green presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney about her arrest by the Israeli Navy during a July effort to, in her words, deliver “medical supplies to the people of Gaza.” McKinney says the arrest came “in international waters” and that she was held for seven days in prison. Asked if she was mistreated, McKinney said, “Of course I was mistreated! I was kidnapped!”
In addition to further discussion of Middle East policy, McKinney also talked about her 2008 campaign. She said, “Winning the Green Party nomination was definitely one of the most wonderful affirmations of my policy prescriptions and advocacies that I have experienced. I was able to travel across the country and meet with people from all backgrounds and all walks of life, all people who were interested in finding a better way.” Asked if she would ever run for office again, McKinney said, “We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now I’m doing the work of building the organization that I and several other people founded, and that is Dignity.”
Somali pirates have more legitimacy than the Israeli Navy.
Somali pirates hijack ships. The Israelis hijacked an entire nation.
Funny,
I was thinking that the phrases “Peter Orvetti” and “the common sense that God granted to turnips” cannot really coexist.
Just saying, ya know.
Skyler,
It most definitely is an appropriate word choice.
Even assuming a “line of legitimacy” separating lawful arrests from other sorts of abductions — and that’s definitely a debatable assumption — McKinney’s abduction clearly fell on the wrong side of that line. Her abduction took place outside of Israel’s putative jurisdiction and was not pursuant to either preventing or punishing anything resembling criminal conduct. She was kidnapped, and there’s not really any other truthful way to phrase it.
Kidnapped? Come on, Cynthia, I’d hardly say that’s an appropriate word choice.
Lou Novak, thanx! Melty Rox
From their mission statement:
The broad mission of DIGNITY is to educate and organize the public in furtherance of the ideals and goals set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We take seriously the United Nations General Assembly’s 1948 admonition that it is the responsibility of “every individual and every organ of society” to secure the “universal and effective recognition and observance” of this “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.”
What does “Dignity” stand for?