美国国家公共电台 NPR--Secretary of State Blinken is in the Middle East to address latest round of violence

Secretary of State Blinken is in the Middle East to address latest round of violence

Transcript¹

Amid rising tensions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He met with Israel's prime minister on Monday.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Israeli prime minister yesterday and met today with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. They met in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The West Bank, of course, is part of the story here. It is where the Israeli military has been carrying out near-daily raids that Israel says targets militants² but that have often killed civilians³. The West Bank is also where some Palestinians cheered after a deadly attack on Israelis outside a synagogue on Friday. NPR's Daniel Estrin has been in Ramallah. He joins us now. Hey there, Daniel.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: What has the secretary of state been saying as he travels through the region?

ESTRIN: Well, his message is not let's restart peace talks. This is much more a message of triage. Blinken is calling for urgent steps to de-escalate tensions. There was a deadly Israeli military raid in the West Bank last week, and the Palestinians called off their usual cooperation with Israeli security officials. Blinken wants Israelis and Palestinians to work together. Then there was a deadly Palestinian attack in Jerusalem with Israelis killed. And in response, Israel vowed⁵ to strengthen West Bank settlements, and it also began demolishing⁷ Palestinian homes. And Blinken opposes both of those moves. He says he opposes anything that makes it hard to eventually create a Palestinian state and eventually end the conflict.

INSKEEP: So he says he's concerned about some of the Israeli actions. And then today, he goes through a checkpoint, I guess, over to Ramallah, the Palestinian government center, and talks with Abbas. What did they discuss?

ESTRIN: Right. Well, Palestinian Authority President Abbas said Israel is not ending its violations⁸ against Palestinians. And he said Palestinians are not willing to endure the Israeli occupation of the West Bank forever. He said the Palestinians are ready to work with the U.S. to reenter peace talks with Israel, which have been on hold for nearly a decade. Of course, the U.S. is saying the sides are not ready for that. Now, Blinken had some interesting things to say, Steve. He offered condolences for innocent Palestinian civilians who have been killed in Israeli raids in the past year. And he also called on both sides to condemn⁹ violence no matter the identity of the victims. He said there's a shrinking horizon of hope for Palestinians, and that needs to change.

INSKEEP: So offering at least verbal support for the Palestinian side as well as the Israeli side. But when you were walking around Ramallah talking with ordinary Palestinians, what did they say they wanted from the United States?

ESTRIN: I met this one Palestinian woman, Steve, at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank. She was on her way to work in Jerusalem. Her name is Majd Amro (ph). I said, what do you expect from America? Here's what she said.

MAJD AMRO: Are you kidding? I don't expect anything from America.

ESTRIN: Why not?

AMRO: Why not? Because they don't support us at all. They just support the Israeli side.

ESTRIN: You know, after the latest violence we just talked about, Steve, she says she thinks nothing is going to get better until Israel simply treats Palestinians better. She was on her way through the turnstile of the checkpoint. And here's what she said.

AMRO: Here at the checkpoints every day, it's horrible. Everything is going to be worse. Maybe they don't stop all these things just to treat us as humans.

INSKEEP: Treat us as humans, she says, one of many perspectives, of course, in this decades-old conflict. Daniel, let me ask you about another aspect. There was this attack on people, seven people killed outside a synagogue last week. What are you learning about the gunman?

ESTRIN: Our team has actually spoken to the family of the gunman, and the family says they don't know why he opened fire. His uncle told us if he would have known, he would have stopped him from doing so. You know, Palestinians are divided about that attack. Some have celebrated¹⁰ it; others we've spoken to say it hurts Palestinians. But it raises a lot of questions, Steve, about how Israel is responding to this attack. Israel has sealed off the attacker's family's home and wants to demolish⁶ the home. The family says it wasn't responsible. This raises questions about whether Israel is actually carrying out a policy of collective punishment, whether that actually can deter¹¹ violence or fuel more of it.

INSKEEP: Isn't the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considering several measures that would seem to be broadly aimed at Palestinians?

ESTRIN: Yes, proposals including firing Palestinians if they post on social media their support for an attack, if they work at an Israeli restaurant, for instance. Israel is demolishing many Palestinian homes this week that were built without proper permits, Palestinians who had nothing to do with the recent attacks. So, you know, you see Israel's far-right government under a lot of pressure to get tougher on Palestinians.

INSKEEP: NPR's Daniel Estrin, thanks so much.

ESTRIN: You're welcome.

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 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 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。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

7 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。