The former congresswoman and presidential candidate for the Green Party, Cynthia McKinney, was one of the 16 people aboard a medical supply ship bound for Gaza which clashed with an Israeli warship and was compelled to turn back.

The 66-foot yacht ‘Dignity‘, flying the flag of Gibraltar, departed Larnaca Monday with roughly about 4 tons of Cypriot-donated supplies. According to the the organizers, the yacht has with it 16 passengers which includes former US Representative Cynthia McKinney, Cyrpiot lawmaker Eleni Theocharous and activists originating from Britain, Ireland, Australia and Tunisia.

McKinney was aboard the yacht to assess the impact of Israeli’s aerial attacks on residents of Gaza strip as said by the human rights group Free Gaza. It was the group who had organized the delivery of more than 3 tons of supplies. McKinney said in her interview with CNN Tuesday morning that their yacht was rammed for three times, two times in the front and once on the side after the Israeli patrol boats tracked them for about 30 minutes. She further stated, “Our mission was a peaceful mission. Our mission was thwarted by the aggressiveness of the Israeli military.

There was an issuance of a call for the Israeli government to “STOP attacking the civilian residents of Gaza and STOP using violence so that human raights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.