2007年VOA标准英语-Israel to Release 250 Imprisoned Fatah Members

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
25 June 2007

The Israeli prime minister says he intends to free 250 Palestinian members of Fatah currently held in Israeli jails. The move is aimed at strengthening Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement has been routed from the Gaza strip. The announcement came at a special Middle East peace summit hosted by Egypt. VOA Cairo Correspondent Challiss McDonough has details.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (r) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before their meeting at the city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 25 Jun 2007

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the proposed prisoner release was a gesture of goodwill¹ toward Palestinian President Abbas.

He said, "As a gesture of goodwill towards the Palestinians, I will bring before the Israeli Cabinet a proposal to free 250 Fatah prisoners, who do not have blood on their hands, after they sign a commitment not to return to violence."

The Israeli leader made the announcement in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, after talks with Mr. Abbas that also included the king of Jordan and the Egyptian president. The meeting was aimed at simultaneously² boosting the peace process and strengthening the hand of Mr. Abbas and his Fatah movement in their struggle against Hamas.

Bitter fighting between the two groups in Gaza has essentially³ split the Palestinian territories in two, with Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah controlling the West Bank.

At the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned that any peace deal must include both territories.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for a resumption of direct negotiations⁴ toward a final peace deal. He urged the Israelis to accept the Arab peace initiative that was recently re-launched in Riyadh.

He said, "We have a historic opportunity to establish the foundations of a just and comprehensive peace in the region, and to eradicate⁶ the reasons for violence, conflict, chaos⁷ and terrorism."

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, whose Hamas-led Palestinian unity⁵ government was dismissed by Abbas, denounced the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, and said it offered nothing but a mirage⁸ and illusions.

Both Egypt and Jordan have offered their full support to Mr. Abbas, since he dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian unity government, following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. International donors⁹ have also said they will resume aid to the Palestinians, now that Mr. Abbas has formed a new emergency Palestinian government, without Hamas.

Analysts¹⁰ say both Jordan and Egypt are concerned that the Fatah-Hamas violence could spill over into their own countries.

Throughout the meeting, the assembled leaders referred to the ousting¹¹ of Fatah from Gaza by Hamas as a coup¹² d'etat.

Some newspaper columnists¹³ and other critics have condemned¹⁴ the show of support for Fatah, and they say Mr. Abbas's new Western-backed emergency government is illegitimate, since Hamas has most of the seats in Parliament.

As the summit approached, several messages from militant¹⁵ groups surfaced.

Hamas-affiliated militants¹⁶ in Gaza released an audio message from captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized in a cross-border raid exactly one year earlier. He said he needs medical treatment, and urged Israel to free Palestinian prisoners.

Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a recording¹⁷ urging all Muslims to support Hamas.

And the captors of kidnapped British journalist Alan Johnston released a video showing the BBC correspondent wearing what he said was an explosive vest. He warned that his kidnappers¹⁸ would detonate the vest if any attempt were made to rescue him.

1 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

2 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 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。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

9 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》

10 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。

11 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。

12 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

13 columnists   

n.专栏作家( columnist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This story will be more fodder for the gossip columnists. 这个传闻会是闲谈专栏作家的又一素材。
• The columnists coined the phrase \"to broderick\", meaning to rough up. 专栏作家们杜撰出一个新词“布罗德里克”意思是“动武”、“打架”。 来自辞典例句

14 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

15 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

16 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。

17 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

18 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》