Put Mitchell on the next flight to Tel Aviv
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 23, 2009 00:00
At first glance, former American Senator George Mitchell may not seem the most obvious choice for the Middle East envoy job. He is hardly a household name in our region. Others have far more direct experience. And his success as former President Bill Clinton’s envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process does not necessarily carry lessons for the state of affairs between Israel and Palestine.
But if we are a bit surprised by the apparent choice of President Barack Obama for the man to send into this most intractable of conflicts, we could not be more pleased. Mitchell, the former leader of the U.S. Senate, is well respected and reportedly extraordinarily patient. This latter characteristic may be the scarcest commodity of all in the contemporary Middle East. While we do not believe that ethnic identity should be a criterion in the choice of any diplomat, we also concede that we live in times of great symbolism. As such, Mitchell’s Lebanese ancestry is a source of credibility that may well provide him at least the benefit of doubt as he proposes to offer a new U.S. policy in the wake of the disastrous neo-conservative alliance that ran the relationship between the Bush White House and recent Israeli governments.
As we noted yesterday, the 75-year-old Mitchell may be best known for his work in Ireland. But he is not without experience in our region. Clinton dispatched him as a last-minute peace broker before he left office in 2000. The so-called "Mitchell Commission" studied the conflict in detail before releasing a report in April 2001 to the newly inaugurated Bush administration. It is not a surprise that this report was ignored by the Bush administration. But it was a good one. The essence of Mitchell’s argument back then was that no peace could come to the Middle East until both sides stopped the violence and steeled themselves for difficult negotiations. Back then, Mitchell called not only for the Palestinians to renounce terrorism, but also for the Israelis to cease using economic blockades against the Palestinians and to halt the construction of new settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In particular, the economic blockade was a critical provocation in the run-up to the bloody three-week Gaza War.
It is also worth mentioning, particularly at a time of debate and discussion of the policies and engagements of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his own regional envoy, Ahmet Davutoğlu, that Mitchell turned to Turkey in his last role as Middle East peacemaker. Back in 2000, he recruited former Turkish President Süleyman Demirel to join his original fact-finding team.
Mitchell obviously understands the region. It is clear he understands Turkey as well. We hope this choice is formalized soon.
As we noted yesterday, the 75-year-old Mitchell may be best known for his work in Ireland. But he is not without experience in our region. Clinton dispatched him as a last-minute peace broker before he left office in 2000. The so-called "Mitchell Commission" studied the conflict in detail before releasing a report in April 2001 to the newly inaugurated Bush administration. It is not a surprise that this report was ignored by the Bush administration. But it was a good one. The essence of Mitchell’s argument back then was that no peace could come to the Middle East until both sides stopped the violence and steeled themselves for difficult negotiations. Back then, Mitchell called not only for the Palestinians to renounce terrorism, but also for the Israelis to cease using economic blockades against the Palestinians and to halt the construction of new settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In particular, the economic blockade was a critical provocation in the run-up to the bloody three-week Gaza War.
It is also worth mentioning, particularly at a time of debate and discussion of the policies and engagements of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his own regional envoy, Ahmet Davutoğlu, that Mitchell turned to Turkey in his last role as Middle East peacemaker. Back in 2000, he recruited former Turkish President Süleyman Demirel to join his original fact-finding team.
Mitchell obviously understands the region. It is clear he understands Turkey as well. We hope this choice is formalized soon.