Cynthia McKinney, a former US congresswoman from Georgia, believes that Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla is a significant turning point in the world public opinion which can bring about a shift in the positions of governments towards Israel.

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was carrying food and medical supplies to Gaza, came under fire early Monday morning by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km off the coast of Gaza.

Twenty international activists are reported to have been killed and 50 others injured in the incident.

Following the Flotilla tragedy, new players such as Turkey have emerged with regard to the question of Palestine which can change the geopolitical equations in the Middle East.

The following is the transcript of Press TV’s interview with Cynthia McKinney:

Press TV: Israel has promised to keep Gaza under the siege despite international outcry. What do you make of this situation?

Cynthia McKinney: Of course we just witnessed the tragedy and I know the organizers and I’ve gone to the free Gaza several times myself and I was supposed to have been on this flotilla except that I am home taking care of a very ill parent. So, it’s heart-wrenching to see what happened and to know what’s happening to the people involved and to know that the special-interest press inside the United States and all over the world is putting out the Israeli story which is absolutely unjustifiable and it’s not true.

Press TV: The US has refused to condemn Israel’s deadly attack on the aid ships. What does that signify?

Cynthia McKinney: I believe that what we are seeing is the beginning of a turning point. The beginning of the turning point of world public opinion in the direction of justice. It’s time to end the façade of democracy, the façade of being more noble in the pursuit of one’s national objectives that Israel has always portrayed to the world. That has been a façade and it has come at the expense of the human rights and the dignity of the Palestinian people.

But what we are seeing now is that people all over the world are forcing their governments to take a stand.
Most critically what we are seeing is the emergence of Turkey. It is critical because it is also a member of NATO. If Turkey chooses to involve the collective security code, it has deal in a pact. That means that all the signatory nations of the NATO treaty have to come to the defense of Turkey and that puts US president Barak Obama in a very uncomfortable position.

Press TV: What should the UN and other international organizations have done to prevent this massacre?

Cynthia McKinney: What should they have done?! They did do nothing. They could have put sanctions against Israel a long time ago. But whatever the United Nations tried to move into an area that they could pass resolutions but there was always the available veto of the United States in the Security Council that always serves to protect Israel and insulate it from the repercussions of its actions.

Also we had the recent decision of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations to grant Israel acceptance into their very prestigious economic organization. That was kind of a reward for doing that and Israel took it as reward for no change.

Europeans say this is a carrot that will allow Israel to change. But two acts that Israel has done indicate that Israel has not changed at all: the massacre of the humanitarian activists and the deploying of nuclear submarines off the coast of Iran. Therefore, Europe needs to look at its relationship with Israel and withdraw those special rewards and relationships that Israel enjoys because it doesn’t deserve it and the United States also needs to do the same thing.