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Gabriel Mitchell

As seen in: Nature, PLOS, Invisible Boundaries, The Times of Israel, Haaretz, The New Republic, War on the Rocks, Australian Outlook, Sharnoff's Global Views
Covers:  turkey, zionism, israel, kurdistan, middle east, middle east politics, israeli politics, israel and the palestinians, turkish politics, israeli-palestinian conflict
Energy & Geopolitics | Foreign Policy | Connectivity | Pipelines & Corridors | @notredame @gmfus @mitvim | Maker of 🥘 | PhD, @VTSPIA | Views are my own.
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Israel welcomes the Erdogan road show

Israel welcomes the Erdogan road show

www.hurriyetdailynews.com — GABRIEL MITCHELL Renewed unrest in Egypt makes Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's promised (and oft postponed) visit to Gaza an unlikely reality. Regardless of when he makes the journey, however, most Israelis will casually observe the festivities with the tired dismissal that comes from the overexposure of such populist grandstanding. Contrary to popular thinking, however, Erdo?an's long-anticipated road show in Gaza will actually serve Israel's interests. Prior to reconciliation talks, the Turkish government made three demands of Israel: an official apology for the Mavi Marmara incident, financial compensation to the families of the victims, and Israel's lifting of its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
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What you need to know about the #OccupyGezi phenomenon in Turkey

What you need to know about the #OccupyGezi phenomenon in Turkey

www.yourmiddleeast.com — Early and often, experts drew parallels between the recent events in Taksim and those in Tahrir Square, but for Israelis, the past days remind many of the social protest movement that swept our own country in the summer of 2011, where "social justice" was demanded from the Netanyahu government. This brief analysis presents the events in Turkey within the necessary historical, social, and political context. 1. While Turkey has democratic elections, it is not a liberal state The lack of freedom of speech and press freedom has been a serious problem in Turkey for some time.
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How Will OccupyGezi Impact Turkey?

How Will OccupyGezi Impact Turkey?

www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com — Perhaps Turkey did not serve as a model for the Arab Spring. Perhaps the rise of the AKP in 2002 was not the watershed moment that marked the beginnings of a Post-Kemalist era. The anti-government protests in Ankara and Istanbul suggest that like Tahrir Square, most people didn't see this coming. In 2011, when the Arab Spring went into full bloom and protests against regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon began, some claimed the source of inspiration for this wave of political Islam was the so-called "Turkish Model."
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Erdogan's Gaza Trip is Israel's Gain By Gabriel Mitchell*

Erdogan's Gaza Trip is Israel's Gain By Gabriel Mitchell*

encompassingcrescent.com — Politicians, similar to musicians, love to take their act on the road. There is something comforting about the unfamiliar road, addressing audiences of new faces and vacating the glaring spotlight of national media. Ironic how one is loved most where one is known the least. This is the driving force behind Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's long anticipated visit to the Gaza Strip in June. Turkish officials would argue that few countries have done more to advance Palestinian interests in the last four years, and they may be right. From Erdogan's "one minute" tirade at Davos to Davutoglu's impassioned U.N.
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Guest Post: Erdogan's Visit to Gaza: A Perspective from Jerusalem | Turkey Wonk: Nuclear and Poli...

Guest Post: Erdogan's Visit to Gaza: A Perspective from Jerusalem | Turkey Wonk: Nuclear and Poli...

turkeywonk.wordpress.com — As part of a larger effort to expand the views on Turkey Wonk, I am handing the creative reigns over to Gabriel Mitchell - an Israel Research Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem - for his thoughts on Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's proposed visit to Gaza. He can be followed on Twitter at @GabiMitch. Without further ado . . . It has only been a month since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, and yet it feels like there is nothing left to say on the issue.
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An army of all the people, for all the people

An army of all the people, for all the people

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem "Are you some kind of idiot? What are you doing! GET DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Dor screamed above the roar of the tank. "Driver, stop!" It was late June and the heat that rested upon the dunes near Shizafon had reached its oppressive apex. Most of my fellow IDF (Israel Defense Forces) trainees were using their precious spare time drinking stale water and finding shade in a row of eastward-facing hangars. Activity was limited to the tanks themselves; despite the conditions, there was no way that our training exercises would be cancelled.
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A “Kurdish Reset”: Erdogan’s Last Chance?

A “Kurdish Reset”: Erdogan’s Last Chance?

turkishpolicy.com — The recent resurgence of PKK violence, coupled by a noticeable lag in the constitutional reform process, has led critics to assume that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s promises to the Kurds, Turkey’s largest minority population, were insincere. Since June 2011, over 800 people have died in renewed clashes in southeastern Turkey, and the unresolved “Kurdish Problem” threatens the premier’s credibility. This paper explores the primary causes behind Erdo?an’s failures, and suggests practical measures that could restore his credibility while ensuring a democratic future to the Republic of Turkey.
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Talking Turkey - Why Israel won't recognize the Kurds

Talking Turkey - Why Israel won't recognize the Kurds

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem Henry Kissinger famously said that in the world of diplomacy, "We must learn to distinguish morality from moralizing." This is what Dr. David Altman fails to appreciate in his article "Forget Turkey; Israel must take up the Kurdish cause," during which he outlines why "human morality" should take precedence when determining Israel's regional foreign policy. Though I sympathize with Altman's dissatisfaction with Kissingerian realpolitik, I reject his misguided solution to the current freeze in Israeli-Turkish relations.
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Turkish Travels IV: Memory, museums, and bombs

Turkish Travels IV: Memory, museums, and bombs

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem The two ivory poker dice rested softly in a jar of buttons, pins, and knickknacks. Peering through the glass case, I could see the expressionless stare of the King of Hearts; his tawny beard reminded me of summers at my grandfather's house organizing stamps and playing with model trains. My brother and I would often roll dice just like these on his soft, carpeted steps. As I drifted away from the glass, the King returned to the seemingly anonymous collection in The Museum of Innocence.
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Turkish Travels III: Tisha B'Büyükada

Turkish Travels III: Tisha B'Büyükada

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem When I first arrived in Turkey, almost a month and a half ago, my perspective on the Jewish community was framed by three things: continued friendships with Turkish Jews whom I had met during my undergraduate years at Ohio State University; three years leading groups of college-aged American students to Turkey with KIVUNIM: New Directions; and a hodgepodge of academic works on the community's narrative, including a recent publication entitled "Jewish Life in Twenty-First-Century Turkey: The Other Side of Tolerance," by Dr. Marcy Brink-Danan of Brown University.
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Turkish Travels II: The Syrian conundrum

Turkish Travels II: The Syrian conundrum

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem "The oppressed become the oppressors. That is what has happened here, that is what is happening in Syria; Rwanda too, and Palestine..." It's been an hour since I met U?ur (not his real name), an aspiring graphic designer in his mid-30s, and he's already on tea number four. We've been locked in political conversation at the local cafe ever since we were introduced to one another by a mutual friend.
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Turkish Travels I: A Summer in ?stanbul

Turkish Travels I: A Summer in ?stanbul

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem Istanbul is one of the cultural crossroads of the world. With over 12 million inhabitants, the city's countless neighborhoods sprawl out from the Bosphorus like a tightly knit rug held together by mosques and glittering skyscrapers. Perhaps New Yorkers, accustomed to trekking endless blocks in the omnipresent humidity, can relate to the vastness and richness of this megatropolis, but for me, a Jerusalem resident and Rhode Island native, Istanbul will forever be a measuring stick for urban triumph.
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Requiem or resurrection: Two years to the Gaza Flotilla

Requiem or resurrection: Two years to the Gaza Flotilla

blogs.timesofisrael.com — Gabriel Mitchell is a 2012-2013 Israel Research Fellow currently working at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem Looking back on op-eds written prior to, and during, the paradigm shattering event which was the Gaza Flotilla, what stands out most is the sense of shock on all sides: shock by Israelis that Turkey didn't understand its position, shock by Turks that Israel boarded the Mavi Marmara by force, and shock by the world that their strong friendship dissipated within a matter of days. Even for those who recognized that the Gaza Flotilla was a natural progression from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's "one minute" episode in Davos, the incident proved that no alliance, no partnership, no friendship is ever guaranteed.
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Islam as Peacemaker: The AKP's Attempt at a Kurdish Resolution | Articles Archive

Islam as Peacemaker: The AKP's Attempt at a Kurdish Resolution | Articles Archive

www.thewashingtonreview.org — According to many scholars, including Re?at Kasaba and Murat Somer, the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds has been fought along ethnic and political lines. However, the historic exclusion of religion from Turkey's political sphere prevented Islam from precipitating better relations. Long restrained by Kemalist governments that regulated the influence of religion on public life, the introduction of Islam into political discourse reflects a new chapter in Turkish politics. This shift has opened the door to massive reforms in Turkey, and the calming of historically tense relations between the Turkish state and its Kurdish population.
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Breaking up is hard to do

Breaking up is hard to do

www.jpost.com — 'Mavi Marmara' under maintenance in Istanbul. Photo: Osman Orsal / Reuters The results of the UN Palmer Report (which summarizes the events surrounding the infamous "Flotilla Incident" on May 31, 2010) have driven another nail into the coffin that is Turkish-Israeli relations. As a student of the history and development of modern Turkey, I was dismayed by the behavior of the Turkish government: its support of the flotilla and its repeated, cheap attempts to pressure Israel into an apology.
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