VOA常速英语2008年-Jimmy Carter Gets Cold Reception in Israel

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
13 April 2008

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is getting a cold reception in Israel. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Mr. Carter is perceived as having a strong anti-Israel bias¹.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his foreign minister have snubbed Mr. Carter and are refusing to meet with him. They are angry that the former president compares Israeli policies to apartheid and that he plans to meet this week with Khaled Mashaal, a leader of the Islamic militant² group Hamas, in Damascus. Hamas refuses to renounce³ violence or recognize Israel.

The spokesman for the Israel branch of the Anti-Defamation League, Arieh O'Sullivan, says Mr. Carter is sending the wrong message.

"Former President Jimmy Carter, he is on a very destructive path right now in the Middle East," said Arieh O'Sullivan. "He is going to Syria, he is going to meet with the head of Hamas, to engage with terrorists."

Mr. Carter defended his plans on American television, in an interview with ABC's This Week.

"I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next door neighbors, the Palestinians, that Hamas will have to be included in the process," said Jimmy Carter.

He said he would try to convince Hamas to halt attacks against Israeli civilians⁴, but in an unofficial capacity.

"I am not going as a mediator⁵ or negotiator," he said. "This is a mission we take as part of the overall Carter Center project to promote peace in the region."

Despite the snub by Israeli leaders, Mr. Carter did meet with Israel's ceremonial President Shimon Peres. On Monday, the former president will visit the southern Israeli town of Sderot that has been battered⁶ by Palestinian rockets fired from nearby Gaza and on Tuesday, he travels to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 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。

3 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

6 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。