VOA常速英语2007年-Hamas, Hardline Israelis Denounce Annapolis Pea

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
26 November 2007

Hamas militants¹ and Israeli opposition² leaders and their supporters on Monday denounced the Mideast peace conference set to get under way Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem it was another violent day on Monday along the Israeli Gaza Strip border as four Palestinians were killed in two separate incidents with Israeli troops.

About 15,000 Israelis marched through the streets of Jerusalem Monday night, gathering³ just outside the residence of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to denounce the Annapolis peace conference. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads the right wing Likud Party, called the peace conference a continuation of one sided concessions⁴.

Meanwhile, Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, who were not invited to the conference, stepped up their criticism of both the Annapolis peace conference and of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who they called a traitor⁵ to the Palestinian people.

Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, seized power in Gaza in June, ousting⁶ Mr. Abbas' Fatah movement from the territory. Ismail Haniyeh, a leading Hamas figure, said any agreements that come out of the Annapolis conference will be rejected by Palestinians.

Haniyeh says Mr. Abbas has no right to make concessions at Annapolis, and any agreements that come out of the conference will only be binding⁷ for those who sign them.

Polls show about 70 percent of Palestinians support the Annapolis conference, but that less than 60 percent believe it will yield tangible⁸ results. A recent poll of Israelis found similar results, indicating that about 70 percent support the conference but seven out of 10 Israelis also do not believe the conference will bring about an end to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

1 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。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

6 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

7 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

8 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。