VOA常速英语2007年-Israeli-Palestinian Meeting Ends in Acrimony

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
12 December 2007

 

The first formal meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators since last month's Annapolis, Maryland peace conference, ended in acrimony Wednesday with both sides accusing each other of acting¹ in bad faith on a host of issues. VOA's Jim Teeple has the details from our Jerusalem bureau.

The 90-minute meeting was supposed to open with a ceremony celebrating the beginning of formal peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the talks had to be rescheduled and moved to a secret location after it became apparent that the two sides had little to discuss.

Aryeh Mekel, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry² says both sides had grievances³ to air.

"The Palestinians chose to use this occasion to raise grievances. Basically our delegation⁴ led by Foreign Minister Livni expressed the need for Palestinians to take urgent action vis-à-vis the security situation and she mentioned the attacks from Gaza," said Mekel. "As you know today there were more than 20 Qassam rockets fired at Sderot and its vicinity. Also she mentioned the lack of security in the West Bank where only two weeks ago, two Palestinian policemen shot and killed an Israeli resident."

Just two weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to re-start peace talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement by the end of next year. But since then continued Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, and Israel's decision to build 300 homes in an Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood known as Har Homa, have soured the atmosphere.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says Israel has to choose between settlements and peace with the Palestinians.

Erekat says the Palestinians main point of discussion in their talks with Israel was the planned construction of 300 homes in the Har Homa, East Jerusalem neighborhood. He also says they raised the issue of Israeli military activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Tuesday, Israeli troops launched a ground incursion into Gaza - the largest such operation since June, when Hamas militants⁵ seized control of the territory from Fatah forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The issue of Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel is raising concerns of a wider Israeli military offensive in Gaza. But Israel's army chief says his forces will focus on carrying out limited operations in the territory and avoid a broader invasion.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the Israeli town of Sderot, which has borne the brunt of the rocket fire, resigned saying he could not carry out his duties as long as the attacks continue.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 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。

3 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

5 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。