That means he may be a bit more even-handed than other Zionist-controlled Americans!
"Mitchell returning to hot seat; Mideast poses new challenge" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | January 24, 2009
WASHINGTON - .... Mitchell's experience.... makes him more inclined to see Hamas as a crucial player that must be at the table for any peace agreement. Hamas won parliamentary elections and now controls Gaza, a significant part of any future Palestinian state....
I LIKE HIM already!!!!
Mitchell's past gives him a unique vantage point. His mother was a textile worker from Lebanon who arrived in the United States at the age of 18. His father was the orphaned son of Irish immigrants who was adopted by a Lebanese family.
Mitchell grew up in relative poverty in Watertown, Maine, joined the Army, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1954. In 1961, he earned a law degree from Georgetown University, and worked in a variety of legal jobs, including as an aide to Senator Edmund Muskie, before Mitchell was appointed US attorney and then a federal judge....
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In 2000, Mitchell was asked to lead a commission to the Middle East to recommend how to stop the cycle of violence between Palestinians and Israelis and get the peace process back on track.
They met with the Israeli government and then traveled to Gaza to meet with about 35 Palestinian leaders assembled by Yasser Arafat, including members of Hamas.... The report they issued was seen as so evenhanded that it was accepted by both sides of the conflict, and became the foundation for President George Bush's so-called "road map" to peace, but the effort collapsed when neither side implemented its recommendations.
Of course, we now know that ISRAEL is responsible for most of the breakdowns in peace. CUI BONO?
Since that time, Mitchell has juggled his service on corporate boards with philanthropic projects. He joined DLA Piper, a global law firm, and settled into a comfortable life in New York raising two children - ages 11 and 8 - with his wife, Heather....
Well, no one is perfect!
