All passengers

Mormesh Adnan (UK)

2009-06-29T12:15:20Z

MSc Graduate in Enviromental Management and activist

Spent two weeks in the West Bank with the Olive Coop (Zeitoun) and Action Palestine in 2007. Worked and documented the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction Campaign speaking and making links with key organisers, notably with the academic boycott at Birzeit University. Also saw work of Stop the Wall, B'Tselem, ISM, Jenin Freedom Theatre and participated in checkpoint watches and demos.
Prior to that was involved in Palestinian issues and Stop the War at 2003 and 2004 World Social Forums in Porto Alegre and Mumbai. Made 3 presentations about my trip back in England. Became chair of BDS campaign in Manchester creating a model for working on local businesses.

Kathy Sheetz (US)

2009-06-24T07:48:17Z

62, United States

Kathy spent the last 12 years on grassroots and human rights organizing in Haiti. She has a Masters in Sustainable Development in Southeast Asian Countries.

A retired nurse, Kathy was on the first voyage in August 2008 and plans on going to the West Bank for six months to work after this trip. She is grandmother to five girls

Ishmahil Blagrove (Jamaica, UK)

2009-06-23T20:13:29Z

41, Jamaica, U.K.

Ishmahil Blagrove is a human rights/social justice activist and a documentary filmmaker who has spoken extensively about the Palestinian struggles for over twenty years. He made the original documentary Blood Diamonds that was broadcast on BBC2 (Correspondent) in 2000.

His production company Rice N Peas Films has gained a solid reputation for producing hard-hitting social documentaries, which include: "Acholi Wedding" (Uganda 2006), "With Or Without Fidel" (Cuba 2007), and most recently "This Is Our Country Too" (Australia 2008), a documentary that exposed the marginalization and discrimination towards Australia's indigenous population.

Still to come

2009-06-23T15:55:16Z

Abdelkader Kalad (Bahrain)
Abufalah Othman (Jordan)
Al-Abi Mansour (Yemen)
Alqaed Juhaina (Bahrain)
Al Shenoo Khaled (Bahrain)
AlAttawi Fatima (Bahrain)
Ghloom Kaltham (Bahrain)
Warshaw Adam (US)
Mormesh Adnan (UK)

Adam Shapiro (US)

2009-06-23T15:49:02Z

37, United States

Adam is a documentary filmmaker, human rights activist and Palestinian rights activist. His latest film is a documentary series on Palestinian refugees all over the world called "Chronicles of a Refugee," which was broadcast on Al-Jazeera Documentary Channel in May 2009. His films have screened in hundreds of film festivals all over the world and have been broadcast on television in the Middle East, Europe and the US. He previously served as Country Director in Afghanistan for the internationally renowned human rights organization, Global Rights.

Adam holds a MA in Politics from New York University and a MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. In Palestine, Adam was a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement and lived and worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for three years.

Cynthia McKinney (US)

2009-06-23T15:47:28Z

53, United States

Cynthia is a former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, serving 12 years, and the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate. She was on board the DIGNITY as it was rammed by the Israeli Navy in international waters while passengers were on their way to the occupied people of Gaza.

"The Israelis violated international law by ramming my boat carrying medical supplies to Gaza. Therefore, I never got to Gaza. Especially after Operation Cast Lead, I want to go to Gaza, and if I'm lucky, one day, I'll also get to visit a free Palestine," said former Representative Cynthia McKinney, one of the passengers coming back.

Derek and Jenny Graham (Ireland)

2009-06-23T15:46:50Z

40 and 38, Ireland

Derek has been a qualified electrician for 20 years. He was a member of the reserve defense forces in Ireland for 21 years and was the first member of the reserves to make the Army sailing team. He has been sailing all of his life and is the First Mate on board the SPIRIT. He was also first mate on the FREE GAZA when it made the first trip.

He has been on four of the five voyages that landed in Gaza. He and his wife, Jenny, plan on staying in Gaza for six months and starting a sailing school for the children there.

Lubna Marsawa (Palestine, Israel)

2009-06-23T15:43:54Z

48, Palestine, Israel

Lubna is a Palestinian living in Israel. She is a political dynamic activist in Jerusalem working for the Alternative Information Center and Al Quds University. She chooses struggle as her way against the occupation. She believes that activists should take the authority to change the reality and not wait for someone else to do it. It\'s important for her as a Palestinian from 1948 to break the siege and keep the relationship with her people.

Mairead Maguire (Ireland)

2009-06-23T15:43:25Z

65, Ireland

Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Nobel peace prize laureate, was co-founder of the Community of Peace People for a peaceful resolution of the Northern Ireland conflict. She has been to Palestine several times defending the human rights.

In April 2007 she was wounded by the Israeli army while nonviolently protesting with Palestinians against the wall in the village of Bil'in. This will be her second trip to Gaza on board one of the Free Gaza boats.

Denis Healey (UK, Cyprus)

2009-06-23T15:42:52Z

Captain, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, 54, UK/Cyprus

Denis has been involved with boats for 45 years beginning with small fishing boats in Portsmouth. He learned to sail while at school and has been part of the sea ever since. He\'s a certified yacht master and has also worked on heavy marine equipment from yachts to large dredgers.

He was the Captain of the DIGNITY for four of its trips to Gaza and safely guided it into a port in Lebanon when it was attacked by the Israeli navy in international waters on December 30th as the DIGNITY was on the way to Gaza loaded with medical supplies and physicians.