美国国家公共电台 NPR Confusion Follows Trump's Tweeted Threat To Cut Aid To Palestinians

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

One of the president's tweets in the new year that Ari mentioned earlier is sowing confusion and anger in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE¹: Just last month, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, was explaining to the world that though the administration decided² to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, its final status is still up for negotiation³.

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NIKKI HALEY: The president took great care not to prejudge final status negotiations⁴ in any way, including the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.

KELEMEN: But President Trump⁵ now says via Twitter that he's, quote, "taken Jerusalem - the toughest part of the negotiation - off the table." He's threatening an aid cutoff if Palestinians don't negotiate with Israelis. And he says because of the Jerusalem decision, the Israelis will have to, quote, "pay more."

That last part confused some Israelis, while the Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as their future capital, are furious. David Makovsky of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy has tracked Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts for years, both as a journalist and a former State Department official.

DAVID MAKOVSKY: It used to be the State Department spokesman would have very carefully crafted statements. But now people are saying, what should I believe? Should I believe those officials, or should believe what the president says from his gut⁶?

KELEMEN: Makovsky says the tweets could make it impossible to revive peace talks.

MAKOVSKY: What's there to negotiate if you just took Jerusalem off the table?

KELEMEN: One U.S. official tried to downplay this, saying Trump has only taken off the table that Jerusalem is Israel's capital - not Palestinian claims to the eastern part of the city. But Tamara Wittes of the Brookings Institution says she takes the tweet seriously.

TAMARA WITTES: Even when sort of mitigated⁷ or tempered by post-facto staff work, these pronouncements tend to hold up in one form or another.

KELEMEN: And it's risky⁸ business, she says, for staffers to try to parse⁹ the president's tweets. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

1 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。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 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。

5 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。

6 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

7 mitigated   

v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of getting there is mitigated by Sydney's offer of a subsidy. 由于悉尼提供补助金，所以到那里的花费就减少了。 来自辞典例句
• The living conditions were slightly mitigated. 居住条件稍有缓解。 来自辞典例句

8 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

9 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。