中东—巴勒斯坦领导人面临国内挑战

Palestinian Leader Faces Internal Challenges

巴勒斯坦领导人面临国内挑战

 

Mahmoud Abbas has been leading the Palestinian Authority for nine months, following his election as president in January. Receiving 62 percent of the votes cast, he succeeded Yasser Arafat, who died last November.

 

Many Western analysts² covering Middle Eastern affairs say Mr. Abbas has just begun addressing some of the major internal problems facing the Palestinian Authority. But they also say a lot more needs to be done in order to reform that body.

 

An expert on Palestinian affairs, Middle Eastern Studies Professor Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College, says rooting out corruption⁴ is Mr. Abbas's most difficult challenge.

 

Fawaz Gerges: Corruption is widespread. Palestinians believe that their government is not transparent⁵, believe that politicians are corrupt³, and many Palestinians accuse the prime minister, Ahmed Queria or Abu Ala, as being at the helm of one of the most corrupt governments in Palestinian history. So Mahmoud Abbas has a great deal to do, and to address, and to tackle on the question of corruption.

 

Middle East expert Nathan Brown, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says to fight corruption Mr. Abbas must set up effective judicial⁶ and legal procedures.

 

Nathan Brown: The corruption issue really has a lot to do with the absence of clear procedures, the failure to distinguish between a public position and private gain, and so on. And he certainly has talked about the need to end it, but what we have not seen are some high-level prosecutions⁸, referring prominent people to the prosecutor⁹ for investigation¹⁰ or trial, or that sort of thing. So his attitude sort of seems to be a little bit more of 'let's stop this now', rather than 'let us ferret out the past cases of corruption.'

 

Experts say Mr. Abbas must continue to tackle another key challenge facing the Palestinian Authority, reform of the security services.

 

Seth Jones is a Middle East analyst¹ with the Rand Corporation.

 

Seth Jones: The real issue and the concern while Yasser Arafat was chairman, was that there were a number of competing security forces, depending on how you counted, somewhere between eight to 12 in the West Bank and Gaza each, and that these were largely responsible and looked to the executive branch, that is the Palestinian Authority, rather than the people.

 

Mr. Jones says some steps have been taken to decrease the number of security forces. But he says they have to be placed under various ministries¹¹ in order not be susceptible¹² to pressure from the executive branch.

 

Professor Gerges, from Sarah Lawrence College, says Mr. Abbas must also improve the lives of the four million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.

 

Professor Gerges: The social and economic situation is extremely difficult. Let us remember here, the Palestinians live under occupation. Israel, even though Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza, still controls the airways¹³ and the borders - that is the Palestinians are besieged¹⁵, whether they are on the West Bank or Gaza. I do not think the Palestinians have come a long way in terms of social and economic reforms, because, first of all, the occupation is still there, the international community has not invested as much as it has promised to do. And of course, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has a great deal to do in order to institutionalize Palestinian government and politics, and begin the serious process to really reform the institutions and ministries and empower Palestinians in order to take charge of their own destiny.

 

Mr. Gerges says the challenges facing Mr. Abbas are daunting¹⁶.

 

Hudson Institute Middle East expert Meyrav Wurmser says Mr. Abbas is in a difficult position, because he replaced a towering figure, Yasser Arafat.

 

Meyrav Wurmser: Arafat had the kind of status in Palestinian society, he so symbolized¹⁷ the plight¹⁸ of the Palestinians that he let anarchy¹⁹ happen. But the bottom line, when he wanted to stop something, he was able to exercise the kind of control that was needed to control things. We cannot say the same for Mahmoud Abbas. He is a man with much better intentions, I think, than Arafat, but he just does not hold the same status in Palestinian society. People just do not regard him as highly.

 

Analysts agree Mr. Abbas cannot resolve all of the internal problems facing the Palestinians by himself. They say he will need the help of the international community to build a viable²⁰, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state.

 

注释：

root out 根除，杜绝

transparent [trAns5pZErEnt] adj. 透明的

at the helm 掌舵，掌权

tackle [5tAkl] vt. 处理，解决

procedure [prE5si:dVE] n. 措施，程序

prosecution⁷ [7prCsi5kju:FEn] n. 检举，起诉

ferret out 搜出，查出

executive branch 行政部门

susceptible [sE5septEbl] adj. 易受影响的

besiege¹⁴ [bi5si:dV] vt. 围困，包围

institutionalize [7insti5tju:FEnElaiz] v. 使制度化

towering [5tauEriN] adj. 杰出的

plight [plait] n. 状态，困境

anarchy [5AnEki] n. 无政府状态，政治混乱

viable [5vaiEb(E)l] adj. 可行的，可实施的

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

6 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

12 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

13 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

14 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

15 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

16 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

17 symbolized   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• For Tigress, Joy symbolized the best a woman could expect from life. 在她看，小福子就足代表女人所应有的享受。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• A car symbolized distinction and achievement, and he was proud. 汽车象征着荣誉和成功，所以他很自豪。 来自辞典例句

18 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

19 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

20 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。