VOA标准英语2014--Palestinian Leader to Visit White House 巴勒斯坦领导人将访问白宫

 

Palestinian Leader to Visit White House 巴勒斯坦领导人将访问白宫

WHITE HOUSE — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visits the White House Monday. Abbas is to meet with President Barack Obama as the U.S. works to come up with a framework for a Mideast peace agreement by the end of April. 

A street battle this month between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem and Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip, after militants¹ fired more rockets at Israel.

Scenes like this are the backdrop of yet another U.S. effort to salvage² the peace process.

Last month, Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Paris for intense diplomatic talks on the effort.

Now, it's Abbas' turn to come to the White House, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago heard President Obama express his hopes for a solution.

“It's my belief that ultimately it is still possible to create two states, a Jewish state of Israel and a state of Palestine in which people are living side by side in peace and security. But it's difficult and it requires compromise on all sides,” he said.

The framework would create the basis for discussion of the key issues: the creation of a Palestinian state, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, security and the status of Jerusalem.

Both sides lack trust. And recently Abbas said there was no way the Palestinians would accept recognizing Israel as a Jewish state - a key Israeli demand.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president would press for difficult concessions³. 

“He will discuss progress made with President Abbas as he did with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He will commend President Abbas as he did Prime Minister Netanyahu on the tough decisions that each leader has made thus far in an effort to move the process forward,” he said.

President Abbas has shown signs of flexibility⁴ on a longstanding, key issue - the Palestinians insistence⁵ that they be given the right to return to areas they fled or were forced to leave when Israel was established in 1948.

"Let's put the issue of refugees on the table. Because it is an issue that must be resolved, to put an end to the conflict. So that the refugees can be satisfied with the solution. But we do not seek and we will not work towards flooding Israel with millions [of refugees] which would change its social composition," he said.

Aaron David Miller⁶ was an advisor⁷ to U.S. secretaries of state on Arab-Israeli negotiations⁸ for 25 years.

He said Monday's meeting showed the White House saw an opportunity for progress, but he was not optimistic.

“There were indications at least up until the Netanyahu meeting that the president was increasingly frustrated⁹ with the Israelis. This will be a better meeting, but I'm not sure how productive it's going to be," he said.

 

Despite being preoccupied¹⁰ with events in Ukraine, President Obama sees this as a priority and wants to press on Abbas that time is running out as an April 29th deadline draws near for a framework agreement.

1 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。

2 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

3 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。

4 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。

5 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 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。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》