2007年VOA标准英语-Jewish, Arab Americans Unite in Desire for Arab

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington
20 June 2007
 

The Arab American Institute and the organization Americans for Peace Now have released the results of a joint¹ survey that measures support for Arab-Israeli peace. The poll of Arab and Jewish Americans shows that both communities support active U.S. involvement to end the conflict.  VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi has more.

Forty years ago this month, Israel won a stunning² military victory in the six-day Arab-Israeli War, but the Jewish state failed to achieve longer term peace and security. That is why activists³ in the United States established Americans for Peace Now in 1981 to promote the idea of a secure Israel through peace.

Noam Shelef

Noam Shelef is the organization's strategic communications director. "A military victory by itself can not provide real lasting⁴ security for Israel. Military success is a military strength. It needs to be balanced with diplomacy⁵ and with peace agreements."

Despite continued conflict in the Middle East, the poll shows that solid majorities of Arab Americans and Jewish Americans favor a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"The bottom line,” says Shelef, “is that we see in this poll that Arab Americans and Jewish Americans agree on almost every issue when it comes to the support for a two-state solution, when it comes to supporting Israel-Syria negotiations⁶, when it comes to perusing⁷ an active U.S diplomatic strategy and active U.S diplomatic approach to the Middle East."

Americans for Peace Now praises President Bush for explicitly⁸ calling for a two-state solution, but the organization says the administration's actions have not matched its words.

Nidal Ibrahim

Nidal Ibrahim, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, says strong majorities of both communities rate the Clinton administration's handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict as effective, while only 20 percent of each rate President Bush's efforts as effective.

"Clinton received high marks for actively⁹ engaging both sides and trying to achieve a meaningful solution,” says Ibrahim. “And I think one of the reasons that Bush has not been able to compare favorably to Clinton was because we have never seen the same type of engagement."

Ibrahim says one of the poll's most significant findings is that the Palestinian-Israeli issue could help determine how Arab Americans and Jewish Americans vote in next year's U.S. presidential election.

"We believe, and as the poll indicated, that if there is a presidential candidate [who] can meaningfully address this issue and pledges to address this issue, that candidate can capture the majority of the votes on both communities,” he says.

More than 90 percent of Jewish and Arab Americans agree that achieving peace in the Middle East is crucial to U.S strategic interests. And a majority of both communities endorses¹⁰ the Arab League Peace Initiative as a basis for negotiations.

The initiative offers Israel full diplomatic relations with all Arab countries in exchange for an agreed-on comprehensive peaceful solution.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

5 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。

6 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。

7 perusing   

v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字）

参考例句：

• She found the information while she was perusing a copy of Life magazine. 她在读《生活》杂志的时候看到了这个消息。 来自辞典例句
• Hence people who began by beholding him ended by perusing him. 所以人们从随便看一看他开始的，都要以仔细捉摸他而终结。 来自辞典例句

8 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 endorses   

v.赞同( endorse的第三人称单数 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• There isn't one country in the Middle East that now endorses the Eisenhower Doctrine. 但至今没有一个中东国家认可它。 来自辞典例句
• Whether any of this truly endorses Dr Patel's hypothesis is moot. 这些视频能否真正证明帕特的假设成立还是个未知数。 来自互联网