VOA常速英语2008年-Jimmy Carter Holds Peace Talks With Hamas Leade

By Aya Batrawy
Cairo
18 April 2008

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has sparked an outcry of protest from Israeli and American officials for his decision to meet with Hamas leaders during a week-long visit to the Middle East. Although he received a cold welcoming in Israel in recent days, he was warmly received by Egyptian officials and a large supportive audience during a speech at the American University in Cairo late Thursday. Aya Batrawy has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Mr. Carter spoke¹ to an audience of at least 1,000 people at the American University in Cairo.

Most members of the audience made it clear that they saw him as breaking barriers by holding talks with Hamas.

Hamas, which won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 and has ruled the Gaza Strip since it seized power there in June, is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States.

But after a three-hour long talk with Hamas officials earlier in the day and photos circulating of the ex-US president being embraced by a Hamas official, Mr. Carter seemed to have whole-hearted support by the mostly Arab audience he spoke to.

Mr. Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who brokered² the historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel three decades ago, strongly defended his reasons for meeting with Hamas.

"I don't think anyone would doubt that in order to have peace in the Holy Land you have to have involved Hamas, which won the election as you know in January 2006," said Jimmy Carter. "Got 44 per cent of the votes, majority of parliament members. They have to be involved in some way in the final peace agreement."

During his visit to Israel early this week all of the country's senior political leaders except for ceremonial President Shimon Peres declined to meet with Mr. Carter.

Israeli officials also rejected Mr. Carter's request to visit the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas but whose border is controlled by Israel.

Mr. Carter's speech late Thursday in Cairo comes just one day after an Israeli air strike killed 21 people in the Gaza Strip.

"My hope is that there will be no more rockets coming out of Gaza and that was my primary request to Hamas leaders and I hope they will comply," said Carter. "And if they do comply my hope is that Israel will not launch any more attacks as they did yesterday within which I think 21 people died. If that conflict can stop then I will be quite pleased. I am not blaming one side or another. But any act, any act by Israelis or Palestinians that causes deaths of innocent civilians³ in my opinion, in my definition is an act of terrorism."

The former U.S. president explained that he is not a mediator⁴ between any two parties nor is he representing the U.S.government during this trip. Despite his unofficial tour of the region, Mr.Carter met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. He has planned meetings in Damascus Friday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as well as Hamas' top leader Khaled Meshaal.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

3 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。

4 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。