Gaza protest boat limps into Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A boat, called SS Dignity, carrying international peace activists and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip sailed into a Lebanese port yesterday - after being turned back and damaged by the Israeli navy, organizers of the trip said.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the boat had ignored an Israeli radio order to turn back early yesterday. Palmor said the boat tried to outmaneuver an Israeli navy ship and crashed into it, lightly damaging both vessels.

But passengers and crew aboard the SS Dignity said their boat was rammed by Israeli navy boats. "We were prevented from entering Gaza ... by Israeli patrol boats ... They shone their spotlight on us and then all of a sudden they rammed us approximately three times," said former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney who was aboard the boat. "Communications from the Israelis indicated that we were involved in terrorist activities ... I presume that's why they rammed our boat," she added.