Kelly spent June 22 – July 9 in Athens, Greece, as a passenger (along with retired colonel Ann Wright, "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker, and retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern) on "The Audacity of Hope," the US boat in Freedom Flotilla II, a campaign to sail to Gaza from international waters in defiance of the Israeli naval blockade. The Greek government refused to allow the ship to sail, based first on a third-party complaint concerning the ship's seaworthiness, and then in an open policy of opposition to the flotilla. The ship attempted to sail for international waters but was intercepted by armed coast guard vessels and impounded. Kelly stayed a week in solidarity with the arrested Greek captain until bail could be arranged, then attempted to reach Gaza by plane in the "Flytilla", but was denied entry to Israel and returned to Greece.