Charlie Rose

REMant  01/12/2010 01:04 PM Report

Morden times, morden history? You can sho tell he's a Yankee. Well, of course, wars only end either by one side being vanquished, or acceptance by the parties of the status quo. But both sides here have factions that are not about to do the latter, and those ppl are not at the table. For its part the Israeli govt has repeatedly caved to them, and talking about making changes to the 1967 borders is not going to help get the other side on board. Perhaps it would be better to let all the right-wingers go their own way, as the Palestinians have had to, and let the moderates make peace by themselves. Turn the settlements into ghettos like the Palestinian refugee camps. A four-state solution as it were.

oregonjack  01/11/2010 11:54 PM Report

"Arguments" are irrelevant when one side has all the power.

The "stick" must be used against Israel to equalize power. "Persuasion" is much more effective when facing a stick.

An "honest broker" must begin with honest premises based on facts of history and international law, no conflicts of interest, and recognition of the massive asymmetry in this conflict, all of which Mitchell wholly ignores by continually referring to "both sides."

Why is he lying? He cannot be as utterly ignorant as he appears. Just the Lobby, or something more sinister?

In any case, the world's citizens must take matters into their own hands with the BDS movement, quickly and decisively. The Palestinians hardly deserve to wait 800 years to regain their land and receive justice.

Mitchell failed to even mention the one-state solution, the only model that would achieve freedom, justice and equality, promoting all Palestinians and demoting Jewish Israelis to the status of equal citizens in a single constitutional democracy.

oregonjack  01/11/2010 11:37 PM Report

What about the 8,000-10,000 Palestinian prisoners, almost entirely arrested for non-violent resistance, uniformly tortured, denied due process, and often held for years. How dare he raise the incarceration of ONE captured Israel soldier?

oregonjack  01/11/2010 10:42 PM Report

I can't believe Mitchell is whining about ISRAELI security when they invade and murder at will, 1,400 killed just a year ago! It is the Palestinians who must be protected. Qassam rockets have killed a total of 15 Israelis in 8 years and suicide bombings were discontinued by Hamas 5 years ago, while Israel had killed 1,437 Palestinian children alone from Sept 2000 thru June 2009. Israel is the aggressor and occupier against which Palestinians have a right of defense but are prohibited from arming and are protected by nobody.

No legitimate negotiations can take place until Israel's power is controlled and equalized by the US or the UN if the US would step aside. The US alone has long blocked international justice through 42 UNSC vetoes in addition to massive financial and military aid which violates our own Arms Export and Foreign Assistance acts.

Since when is a crime victim required to negotiate with the thief how much stolen property must be returned? When a 240-lb NFL linebacker has repeatedly beaten up his 97-lb wife, she is not required to negotiate with him. The court decides, and the only choice he is given is between a $20,000 fine or 6 months in jail.

This belongs in the international criminal court, not in the hands of George Mitchell who also implied that this is an ancient conflict rather than one that began, as it did, with the infliction of Zionism upon the indigenous people of Palestine. International law and recorded history is quite clear, and the Zionist "narrative" and "claims" are irrelevant.

Perhaps the next time Sen Mitchell is arrested for running a stop sign he can simply declare that he doesn't personally recognize the validity of the law. Of course, if we demanded that Israel obey the law we might have to do so also, and so we don't do either. The US and Israel are the "rogue" nations on the planet.

Short of this, he might try reading more, starting with books by Israeli historians Ilan Pappe and Shlomo Sand.

Hu5h  01/10/2010 11:31 AM Report

great segment, great interview, thanks