Your Turn: The Envoy

Mitchell is wasting his time trying to sell peace to a people that want war. The Israelis are happy to go through the motions but they won’t give an inch. I’d like to see Mitchell honestly report Israeli intransigence. Then they’ll call him an anti-Semite.

I do so appreciate this; to be thrown a photo like this in this way and be asked to catalog my reactions.
At first, all I saw was the title and photo, and my immediate response was “George Mitchell is walking with a casually well-dressed young man with longish hair into some sort of government building. Who is that he’s with, his son or something. I can’t imagine a major player with that kind of appearance. This makes no sense.” Then I notice the dramatic lighting, the silhouetted camera, the “audience” behind them, think “really nice picture, still wonder what’s going on.” Finally find the caption and it’s “That’s the Israeli Foreign Minister!?” Google now steps in and turns this into a focused study of gender. Much as I have opinions about events in this part of the world I was not familiar with this player.
We must be in Israel, but it could so easily be DC. I *still* see the central figure as a casually dressed young man. Mitchell seems genuinely happy but somehow not entirely comfortable, Livni’s stance is what I might describe as confidently deferential, just barely leading, pleasantries being exchange no doubt. The difference in comfort level is probably mostly to do with locatiion. The “audience” is most likely security, the two you can see both holding their hands together in some way, slightly at attention. I still really like that silhouette/lighting with that camera with the deadly aim on our subjects.
The comfort and ease between the two makes me doubt our ability to be successful here. We are obviously so much more culturally aligned with Israel. A scene like this will never occur with the Palestinian representative. This picture just shouts “power”. There is so little chance of defying power like this, you mostly learn to live with it and fight it in tiny increments. Violent resistance will be met in fold. The Palestinians are everyman. They will only be allowed on this scene in a highly controlled manner.

I agree that the shadow of the photographer brings a special tension to the picture. What struck me about that single shadow, after knowing the photo’s setting, was the absence of 50 other photojournalists.
We really don’t get enough of the good, as opposed to say Britney or Lindsay getting in or out some vehicle, drunk or not.

I thought it was Jacko with a local dignitary on one of his “humanitarian” missions.

I guess not.

The very first thought I had?
Ain’t we got game.

I’m with Alan. First impression? The shadow on the wall struck me as an assassin aiming a scoped weapon at the heads of the two principals. Very sinister.
Aside from that, my impression is the principals look very awkward. Their arms are pointed straight down, completely disconnected from their walk. Livni’s head is poked forward like a turtle. Mitchell has a fixed smile and is looking into the darkness they’re walking into rather than at her.

I am interesting in Tsipi’s political career, so I recognized her immediately—my first thought about her part of the image was, “great haircut”. George seems convivial but is moving in a quite different rhythm than Tsipi, although both seemed pretty relaxed, which is a sign of a good job on George’s part so far. Tsipi is the FM, of course, but she is also the correct first person to go to, so that improved my take on George’s motion through the picture. They are in front of what looks to me like a fortress, which is resonant with the situation. And the left side of the image is actually more like a cartoon than part of the image, like one of those massive shadows in a warner brothers cartoon portending a falling safe or entering monster. My eye was drawn back again and again to Tsipi’s posture. Their stride is matching, but her center of gravity seems so much lower, which I personally associate with good posture for martial arts (or ta’i chi!). Interesting that compared to some other commenters, I didn’t see the body guards as anything but background…

George has such a captivating smile, I assume he is already familiar with this report
Secret Israeli database reveals full extent of illegal settlement
The defense establishment, led by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, steadfastly refused to publicize the figures, arguing, for one thing, that publication could **endanger state security or harm Israel’s foreign relations**. Someone who is liable to be particularly interested in the data collected by Spiegel is George Mitchell, President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East, who came to Israel this week for his first visit since his appointment. It was Mitchell who authored the 2001 report that led to the formulation of the road map, which established a parallel between halting terror and halting construction in the settlements
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1060043.html

Anyone see white phosphorous?

It looks like Tsipi is leading Mitchell off to the gallows or something! Impending doom!