State Department officials say they are still skeptical about whether a U.N.-sponsored conference against racism set for April in Geneva can be a constructive exercise. The United States walked out of the initial conference on the subject in South Africa in 2001 because of attacks on Israel, but it joined in preparatory talks for the Geneva meeting.
美国国务院官员说，他们对美国发起的、4月在日内瓦举行的反对种族歧视大会是否具有建设性仍然持怀疑态度。美国没有参加2001年在南非召开的第一次反对种族歧视大会，原因是对以色列的袭击。但是美国参加了这次日内瓦会议的预备会谈。
Officials say the U.S. team sent to the preparatory meeting in Geneva got a sympathetic hearing from many of the delegations there.
美国国务院官员说，前往日内瓦参加预备会议的美国代表团从许多代表团那里听到了赞同的意见。
But they say the draft declaration still contains objectionable segments on Israel and other subjects, and U.S. participation in the full conference remains in doubt.
不过，他们认为宣言草稿仍然含有针对以色列等话题的令人不快的内容，因此美国是否全面参与这次会议仍然不能确定。
The Obama administration broke with its predecessor and sent a delegation to this week's preparatory meeting, even though the Bush administration had initially decided not to attend and had opposed the April conference altogether.
奥巴马政府一改上届政府的做法，派代表团参加这个星期的预备会议，而布什政府从最初就决定不参加会议，并且还反对参加今年4月的会议。
The Geneva conference is a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance held in Durban South Africa.
这次在日内瓦举行的会议是2001年在南非德班召开的反对种族主义、种族歧视、仇外心理和相关的不宽容现象的世界会议的后续会议。
The United States joined Israel in walking out of that meeting because of document language about Israel and Zionism that U.S. officials considered anti-Semitic.
美国跟以色列一道退出了那次的会议，因为美国认为会议文件有关以色列和犹太复国主义的措辞是反犹太人的。
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent a delegation to the Geneva preparatory talks that included U.S. diplomats and human rights activists, including a senior official of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League.
美国国务卿希拉里.克林顿派遣代表团参加在日内瓦举行的预备会议，团员有美国外交家和人权活动人士，其中包括犹太人反诽谤联盟的一名资深成员。
At a news briefing Friday, State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid said the U.S. team went into the Geneva discussions with "grave concerns" about the so-called Durban process, and the lengthy draft declaration now under debate. He said the Americans got a good hearing but he was non-committal about whether the United States will attend the full conference:
国务院副发言人杜吉德在星期五的新闻发布会上说，赴会美国代表团对所谓德班进程和目前正引发辩论的冗长的宣言草稿抱着极大的关注。杜吉德说，美国代表团听到了一些令人满意的意见，但是他并不能承诺美国是否会全程参加这次会议。
"There were many things we disagreed with in the document. The document began as a very lengthy piece of work and got longer during the conference itself. The intention was to engage, and to try to make something that was flawed, better. We did not predict success, and I can't do that for you now. But we are on the record with our international partners as to where we stand on these issues," he said.
杜吉德说：“宣言草稿中有许多内容我们不能苟同。这个文件从着手拟写起就相当冗长，在会议期间又增加了内容，篇幅更长。其用意是让代表参加讨论，试图改进一些有缺陷的内容。我们原来就没对会议是否成功作预测，现在我也不能向你们做出这种预测。但是我们跟我们的国际合作伙伴就我们对这些问题的立场是非常明确的。”
Duguid said an administration decision on whether to continue in the process will await a meeting at which the U.S. delegates will brief Secretary Clinton, and make a recommendation.
杜吉德说，美国代表团把情况向克林顿国务卿汇报并提出建议之后，有关当局才能作出是否继续参与这一进程的行政决定。
The issue of U.S. participation is controversial, with several U.S. Jewish organizations calling for a boycott and advocacy groups like Human Rights Watch saying the United States should attend the April conference, if for no other reason than to block consensus on an objectionable final declaration.
美国是否参与这一进程具有争议，美国几个犹太人团体呼吁抵制，而人权观察等人权倡导组织认为，即使就是为了阻止就恼人的最终宣言达成一致，美国也应该参加4月在日内瓦举行的这次会议。
A senior official who spoke to reporters at the State Department said U.S. delegates voiced objections to several elements in the draft declaration concerning Israel, but also others including language backed by Muslim countries against defamation of religion that is widely seen as curbing free expression.
在国务院向记者讲话的一位资深官员说，美国代表对宣言草稿中有关以色列的几项内容发表了反对意见，还对受到穆斯林国家支持的一些措辞表示反对，这些反对中伤宗教的措辞被普遍认为限制言论自由。
The official said he did not think the United States is "warming up" to the Durban process based on this week's discussions, saying U.S participants went in skeptical and came out still believing that the problems are difficult.
这位官员说，他认为从这个星期的讨论来看，美国没有作好准备继续参与德班进程的后续工作。他说，美国代表带着疑虑去，回来后仍然认为还存在一些困难的问题。 |