VOA常速英语2007年-Core Issues Divide Israeli, Palestinian Negotia

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
26 November 2007

During the next three days Israeli and Palestinian negotiators who meet in Washington D.C. and Annapolis, Maryland will try to do something that has eluded¹ them for seven years - resurrect the Mideast peace process. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem on whether the conference is likely to decide the course of Middle East diplomacy² for years to come.

When they sit down at the conference table at the U.S. Naval³ Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and their American hosts will try to forget the past few years of failed diplomacy and move forward.

That will not be easy. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators cannot agree on how to address the core issues that divide them; borders, the status of Jerusalem, and the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Political Science Professor Ali Jarbawi, of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah, says reaching an agreement in Annapolis will be difficult.

"If the differences are that huge, so they could not reach a common understanding before going into the conference - a conference of two days, then I am not sure they can come out from that conference with a common vision," said Jarbawi.

Israelis and Palestinians have been holding talks for two months about the agenda for the conference. Palestinians want detailed⁴ discussions about the core, or final status issues, and a timetable for resolving them.

Israel says there should be broad discussions at Annapolis and detailed discussions should follow later.

"We want to come out of this conference restarting the talks on those final status issues on the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine living side-by side in peace," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry⁵. " We want to come out of this conference with speedy implementation⁶ of stage one of the Roadmap. Both sides have obligations and both sides will start implementing⁷ their obligations. That is good for peace."

The Roadmap peace plan devised four years ago by the international community is a multi-phase process that is supposed to result in the creation of a Palestinian state. Its first phase calls for Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank and for Palestinians to stop attacking Israelis.

Regev says Israel's third objective at the Annapolis talks will be to set the agenda for a donors⁸ conference next month in Paris that is supposed to focus on how to build up Palestinian institutions - especially its security forces, which Israel sees as vital to combating Palestinian militants⁹ like Hamas.

Ali Jarbawi of Bir Zeit University says for the conference to be regarded as a success by Palestinians, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will have to return to the West Bank, and show his fellow Palestinians that he has more than just a commitment to re-start talks on final-status or core issues.

He also says Palestinians are counting on the United States to exert pressure on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank and ease checkpoints that severely¹⁰ restrict the movement of Palestinians.

"I think they [Palestinians] would like to see something coming out of this conference, because that will empower the Palestinian Authority and show that the negotiation¹¹ track can yield results, basically," he said. "We have more than 500 checkpoints in the West Bank; the cantonization of the West Bank, the movement is extremely difficult for ordinary Palestinians. The trade and economic situation is worsening, so they need to see a lifting of checkpoints and the economic situation needs to improve in order to believe in the negotiation process."

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel will stop building settlements in the West Bank, and will dismantle¹² illegal outposts there, but as the head of a weak coalition¹³ government, implementing those policies will be difficult.

Regev of the Israeli Foreign Ministry says Mr. Olmert's government is serious about its commitment to the Roadmap peace plan, and will not lose the opportunity being offered at Annapolis.

"All Israeli governments have been coalition governments, and we have coalition governments in the past that have achieved important progress in the peace process. I think Mr. Olmert's has clearly got the numbers in the Knesset to make this work," he said. "I believe that with this determination by the Israeli government together with determination of the Palestinian government we can really move forward. There is a moment of opportunity. We cannot let that moment be wasted."

For his part, Mahmoud Abbas also heads a weak government, and one that only rules in the West Bank. Hamas which fiercely opposes the Annapolis conference runs the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders say they fully¹⁴ expect the Annapolis conference to fail. If that happens, it could be another long wait before diplomacy returns to the Middle East.

1 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 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。

12 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

13 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。