George Mitchell, a former U.S. Senate majority leader, discussed the United States’ involvement in the Middle East during a lecture Wednesday night. It was the fourth installment of the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Lecture Series.
The lecture, titled “The U.S. Role in the Middle East: Past and Future,” was hosted by the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in the Law Auditorium. The goal of the lecture series is to honor the legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, said Michael Zank, director of BU’s Elie Wiesel Center and a professor of religion. Rabin was an Israeli prime minister who sought peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Mitchell was joined in conversation by Adil Najam, the dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. Najam then hosted a question-and-answer session between Mitchell and the audience.
Jonathan Krivine, a College of Arts and Sciences alumnus who endowed the lecture series, met Mitchell at a dinner in New York and asked him if he would be willing to give a lecture, to which Mitchell agreed.
Zank said BU is fortunate to have Mitchell speak to a topic that is on many students’ and other people’s minds.
“Given all the changes in the Middle East and all the changes in the American political sphere, what is the role of the United States at this point in the Middle East?” Zank said. “Is there still a peace process to offer? Are we still an honest broker, or are we perceived as an honest broker? All of those things are on many people’s minds.”
School of Education alumna Harriet Segal, 75, of Wellesley, said she had worked with Mitchell on Hubert Humphrey’s presidential campaign in 1968. She said she wanted to hear him speak once again.
“I appreciate [Mitchell] as a person and I think that he is very rational,” Segal said. “I think he is like [Barack] Obama, because they seem to care about people and are looking for reason to come to a conclusion.”
Walker Robins, a CAS professor who teaches a history class on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, attended the lecture and encouraged his students to do so as well. Robins wrote in an email before the lecture that because President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to release its peace plan for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the role of the United States in the Middle East is an urgent topic.
“The lecture is an opportunity to hear from someone who has been directly involved as both an investigator and a diplomat in trying to forge peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Robins wrote.
The U.S. has taken a leading role in mediating conflict in the Middle East for decades, Robins added, but currently the two entities are in a “moment of flux.”
“President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has alienated the Palestinians, leaving it an open question as to whether they will continue to accept the U.S. as mediator,” Robins wrote. “President Trump is preparing to unveil his own peace plan. If it reshapes and revives negotiations, that will of course be significant.”
During the lecture, Mitchell said the United States’ stance in recent history on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in favor of a two-state solution.
“Among our commitments in the Middle East is to guarantee Israel’s right to exist with its safe and defensible borders, a commitment that is unshakable, whoever occupies the leadership position,” Mitchell said. “The United States also supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state.”
But Mitchell added that the support for a two-state solution is declining in both the United States and Israel.
Harrison Kessler, a second-year graduate student in the School of Law, said he thought Mitchell spoke a lot of wisdom and liked how Mitchell spoke about the influence of monetary donations in politics.
“I appreciated that he spoke forcefully about money in politics,” Kessler said. “I think that’s certainly a huge issue, and he would know better about it than anyone else. about what kinds of effects it has on the country and its politics.”
Jesslyn Katherine, a senior in CAS, said she enjoyed hearing Mitchell talk encouragingly about a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
“It’s very fascinating to hear about a two-state solution that I barely hear a lot about because mostly, people that I know are instead very pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian,” Catherine said. “So, for a senator from the United States to propose that strongly and firmly is pretty powerful.”
After the lecture, Mitchell told The Daily Free Press he appreciated the questions asked by the audience during the question-and-answer segment.
“They were very good questions — relevant questions — some of them tough questions,” Mitchell said. “I think it shows a healthy interest in the political process and many challenging issues that our country faces.”
Mitchell said he thinks BU students and other young people should get involved in politics and share their voices.
“Get out and vote, demonstrate, make your views and voices known,” Mitchell said. “That’s happening now with respect to gun control. I hope it works and it can work on other issues as well.”
