联合国种族大会争论不休

 

Controversies¹ Threaten World Conference Against Racism²

Lisa Schlein

Geneva

14 Aug 2001 15:37 UTC

 

The United Nations is continuing negotiations³ to resolve several issues threatening to sink the World Conference against Racism, scheduled to begin later this month in Durban, South Africa. Preparations for the conference ended Friday without agreement on issues relating to 1)Zionism and reparations for slavery.

Negotiators have completed two-thirds of the draft language that will be sent to Durban. It is the remaining third that could 2)potentially 3)doom the World Conference against Racism.

The United States has threatened to 4)boycott the conference if slavery reparations or discussions 5)equating⁴ Zionism with 6)racism are on the Durban 7)agenda. Israel too has said it might not attend if Arab countries 8)persist in equating Zionism with racism. A spokesman for the U.N. Human Rights Center, Jose Dias, says a resolution equating Zionism with racism is no longer on the conference agenda. "What is being debated now," he said, "is how to take account of what is happening in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians. How that is going to figure in the documents that will come out of Durban. But I think Zionism as racism will not be part of that discussion. That has been one of the 9)outcomes of the meeting here in Geneva over the past two weeks."

Mr. Dias says the United Nations settled the question of Zionism as a form of racism in 1991, saying the two were not related. He says it would be 10)inappropriate to re-open the issue in Durban. But he does acknowledge it might be difficult to find a compromise on how to discuss the violence in the Middle East without offending one or more nations.

Informal negotiations to resolve the thorny⁵ issue of reparations for slavery and colonialism are continuing. Many African countries say they should be compensated⁶ for the sufferings of their people during the years of slavery and colonialism. The United States and European Union fear any such deal could 11)expose them to huge 12)lawsuits. Mr. Dias says negotiators are trying to figure a way out of this problem. "Many of the delegations⁷ taking part are now looking for some common ground which would imply a 13)solemn 14)recognition of what happened, how it affected⁸ those countries, particularly in Africa," Mr. Dias said. "And how to encourage assistance to those countries by securing development assistance to help them overcome the effects of practices of slavery and practices of some aspects of 15)colonialism."

Mr. Dias says the United States and Israel have indicated they would await the outcome of the negotiations before deciding whether they will be present in Durban.

 

 

(1)      Zionism[5zaIEnIz(E)m]n.犹太复国主义,犹太复国运动

(2)      potentially adv.潜在地

(3)      doom[du:m]n.厄运, 毁灭, 死亡v.注定, 判决

(4)      boycott[5bCIkRt]n.vt.联合抵制

(5)      equate[I5kweIt]vt.使相等,视为平等vi.等同

(6)      racism n.种族主义, 人种偏见, 种族歧视

(7)      agenda[E5dVendE]n.pl.议程

(8)      persist[pE5sIst]vi.坚持, 持续

(9)      outcome[5aJtkQm]n.结果, 成果

(10)      inappropriate[InE5prEJprIEt]adj.不适当的, 不相称的

(11)      expose[Ik5spEJz; (?@) ekspE5zeI]vt.使暴露, 受到, 使曝光v.揭露

(12)      lawsuit[5lC:su:t, 5lC:sju:t]n.诉讼(尤指非刑事案件)

(13)      solemn[5sRlEm]adj.庄严的, 隆重的, 严肃的

(14)      recognition[rekE^5nIF(E)n]n.赞誉, 承认, 重视, 公认, 识别

(15)      colonialism[kE5lEJnIElIz(E)m]n.殖民主义

 

 

1 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 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。

4 equating   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的现在分词 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• [ Ray ] I definitely started equating crossword puzzles with songwriting. 我已经干脆开始把字谜游戏等同于歌曲写作了。 来自电影对白
• But they have a hard time equating plural marriage with those evils. 但是他们很难把这种多妻婚姻与上面说的那些坏事联系起来。 来自互联网

5 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

6 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

7 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。