美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden is heading to Saudi Arabia for a controversial trip

Biden is heading to Saudi Arabia for a controversial trip

Transcript¹

After two days with Israeli leaders, President Biden heads to the Israeli-occupied West Bank before making the most controversial stop on his Mideast trip — Saudi Arabia.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Biden has had a multinational² day. He woke up today in Jerusalem, crossed over into the Israeli-occupied West Bank before continuing on to Saudi Arabia. This portion of his Mideast trip included a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority. And NPR's Daniel Estrin has been covering this story from Jerusalem. Hey there, Daniel.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE³: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: Where has the president been?

ESTRIN: Well, today he was at a place that no sitting U.S. president has ever been. He went to a Palestinian hospital in East Jerusalem, and he went without Israeli officials. That is significant because Israel claims that area, but Palestinians want that area for their own capital. And by traveling there, Biden gave a nod to Palestinian claims. And then his motorcade saw some of the realities of Israel's occupation of the West Bank. He passed through Israel's concrete wall that surrounds Bethlehem. He passed by signs and billboards⁴ that say, Mr. President, this is apartheid - that Israeli human rights activists⁵ put up. He passed by a large mural on the West Bank separation barrier with a picture of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist killed recently that the U.S. has concluded Israeli soldiers killed her.

INSKEEP: Wow. A lot of impressive images there - a lot of images with a lot of messages.

ESTRIN: Right.

INSKEEP: What messages did he bring to the Palestinians?

ESTRIN: You know, he acknowledged that Palestinians realize it. Today, Biden announced hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian⁶ aid, and he acknowledged that Palestinians don't want just economic improvement. They want economic and political freedom from Israel. And here's what Biden said.

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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: There must be a political horizon that the Palestinian people can actually see or at least feel.

ESTRIN: A political horizon. You know, and he made the case that even if the ground isn't ripe at this moment to start peace negotiations⁷, he didn't want to give up on the chance to try to bring both sides together. Biden also called for a full accounting⁸ of Shireen Abu Akleh's shooting.

INSKEEP: He is at most, then, putting a marker for the future. Is that correct, Daniel? There seems to be no movement or even a prospect⁹ of a two-state solution, which is what the president is endorsing¹⁰.

ESTRIN: That's right. He says he believes in creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but he's the first president in decades not to come with a formal peace plan. He says the sides are not ripe and ready. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was very clear in his remarks. He wants to see steps toward that goal, very specific steps towards restarting talks.

INSKEEP: OK. So the president wrapped up his visit to the West Bank and then got on Air Force One. The destination - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. And as I understand it, that flight illustrates¹¹ a development between Israelis and Saudis that's kind of important here.

ESTRIN: That's right. President Biden is calling it historic that he is flying from Israel to Saudi Arabia, although that's just a matter of direction because Trump¹² actually flew from Saudi Arabia to Israel when he was president. The point here is that Israel and Saudi Arabia have been making very small, I'd say, baby steps toward each other. They don't have formal ties. But today, Saudi Arabia announced that it will be allowing Israeli commercial flights to fly over Saudi airspace on their way to points far east - India and China. And that is significant because that is the big prize for Israel. They want a formal peace deal, formal ties with Saudi Arabia. That's not going to happen on this trip, but it is a kind of an announcement that puts a positive spin, I suppose, on Biden's otherwise controversial trip where he's going to be seeing the Saudi crown prince, a man who the U.S. has implicated¹³ in the killing¹⁴ of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

INSKEEP: Daniel, thanks, as always, for your observations and your insights.

ESTRIN: My pleasure.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

11 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。