VOA标准英语2009-Palestinians, Israelis Threaten Each Other O

By Luis Ramirez
Jerusalem
16 November 2009

Palestinian leaders say they are pushing efforts to have the U.N. Security Council endorse¹ the creation of a Palestinian state out of frustration² over the stalled peace process. Israel has threatened to take its own unilateral steps if the Palestinians move ahead with plans for statehood on their own.

It was a swift and angry reaction from Israel when the Palestinians said this week they would push unilaterally for the U.N. Security Council to endorse an independent state for them.

 
Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu during his address before the 2009 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations³ of North America in Washingtom, 09 Nov 2009
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Palestinians not to do anything on their own.

Mr. Netanyahu said there is no replacement⁴ for negotiations⁶ between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He said any one-sided step will unravel⁷ the framework of agreements that exist and cause unilateral steps from the Israeli side.

Mr. Netanyahu's warnings drew an angry response from the Palestinians under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas and his moderate Fatah faction⁸. Speaking to VOA, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused the Israeli leader of undermining the peace process.

 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, consults with his aide Saeb Erekat, left, during a press conference (File)
"He threatens with unilateral steps," said Saeb Erekat. "Do you think that settlement activity is bilateral⁹?  Excuse me, we are the moderate camp. We are the ones who want to achieve the two-state solution. This Israeli government is doing nothing. Look on the ground: we have recognized the State of Israel's right to live in peace and security, next to the state of Palestine. Now, what Mr. Netanyahu is doing is really eating up the land that is supposed to be the Palestinian state with more settlements, with more malls, with more confiscation¹⁰ of land."

The Palestinians say they decided¹¹ to take the matter of statehood to the U.N. Security Council out of frustration that 16 years after the signing of the Oslo accords there is still no peace agreement.

Hani al-Masri heads the Palestine Media, Research, and Studies Center, research organization in the West Bank town of Ramallah. He echoes the belief among many Palestinians the peace process is going nowhere.

He says the peace process, in his mind, has been dead for a long time. He said it died when a Jewish extremist killed peacemaking Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and when, in his words, Israel did not implement¹² the Oslo peace accords. Al Masri said there is the belief among many Palestinians the peace process died a long time ago and is waiting for someone to bury it.

The United States is keeping up its efforts to bring both sides back to the negotiation⁵ table. On the thorny¹³ subject of Jewish settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for both sides to deal with the issue in negotiations.

Some left-of-center members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, are pushing for Mr. Netanyahu's right-wing leadership to make concessions¹⁴.

One observer, Akiva Eldar, a senior columnist¹⁵ at the Haaretz newspaper in Tel Aviv, sees no movement unless one of the sides takes the first step.

"As an Israeli, I can say that now we have to make the move," said Akiva Eldar. "As President Obama insisted and as part of the Israeli Knesset believes, Israel has to now give clear guarantees that it is not going to expand these settlements. So I cannot expect the Arabs to make any move that I do not expect or demand the Israelis to do. It has to be, I think, in way, reciprocal and symmetric."

On the Palestinian side, any flexibility¹⁶ on the matter of settlements can cost the leadership dearly.

Officials within the Fatah faction of President Abbas, said last week he was close to resigning as his popularity plummeted¹⁷. Mr. Abbas has postponed¹⁸ elections indefinitely that were due for January, as some accused him of failing to persuade the Israelis to freeze settlement growth and grant other concessions.

For Mr. Abbas' political allies and for the Israelis, there is concern that elections held now might mean gains for the militant¹⁹ Islamist Hamas faction, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish State.

The Palestinians under Mr. Abbas are sticking to their demand that Israel freeze settlement construction before a return to negotiations.

Analysts²⁰ say it remains²¹ to be seen whether the Palestinians' unilateral effort to get a U.N. security endorsement²² of a Palestinian state will be sustained or is no more than a publicity²³ stunt²⁴ meant to get Israel to make concessions. 

1 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 federations   

n.联邦( federation的名词复数 )；同盟；联盟；联合会

参考例句：

• These problems are women's special problems and special work of women's federations. 这样的问题，就是妇女的特殊问题，就是妇联的特殊工作。 来自互联网
• The Bridge Federate is a feasible solution to achieve multi-federations interconnection. 基于桥接成员实现多联邦互连是目前较为通用和可行的方法。 来自互联网

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

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 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

8 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

9 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

10 confiscation   

n. 没收, 充公, 征收

参考例句：

• Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 没收一切流亡分子和叛乱分子的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言
• Confiscation of smuggled property is part of the penalty for certain offences. 没收走私财产是对某些犯罪予以惩罚的一部分。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

13 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

14 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

15 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

16 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

17 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

19 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。

20 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。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

22 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

23 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

24 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。