VOA常速英语2016--俄罗斯欲促阿巴斯与内塔尼亚胡会面

Russia Offers to Host Abbas-Netanyahu Meeting

After getting involved in the Syrian civil war, Russia now signals it wants to become a Middle East power broker¹. President Vladimir Putin has offered to host a face-to-face meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow. Both leaders claim they are ready to continue the dialogue, but they accuse each other of stalling.

Russian Middle East envoy² Mikhail Bogdanov held talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization's secretary general, Saeb Erekat, in the West Bank city of Ramallah Tuesday, a day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

俄罗斯驻中东特使Mikhail Bogdanov于周二在西岸城市拉马拉与巴勒斯坦秘书长Saeb Erekat举行了会谈，前一天，俄罗斯特使刚刚在耶路撒冷会见了以色列总理Benjamin Netanyahu。

"We are very thankful that Mahmoud Abbas accepted in principle the Russian initiative proposed by President Putin.We will continue our efforts, discussions and contacts with the two parties about the form, contents and dates of the meeting," said Bogdanov.

我们衷心感谢Mahmoud Abbas大体上接受了普京总统所发起的俄罗斯倡议。我们将同双方就会议的形式、内容以及举办日期继续努力，不断磋商，并保持联系。

Abbas, who was visiting Poland on Tuesday, responded that he is ready for such a meeting.

Abbas周二正在造访波兰，他回应称自己已经准备好参加这样一个会议了。

"I was supposed to go directly from here to Moscow to meet with Mr. Netanyahu.But unfortunately, there were talks yesterday in Jerusalem between aides of President Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu where Prime Minister Netanyahu proposed postponing³ the meeting to a date that I do not yet know," said Abbas.

“我本来应该直接从这里去莫斯科，然后与Netanyahu会面的。但很可惜，昨天在耶路撒冷举行了会谈，与会方是普京总统的助理和Netanyahu总理，在这次会谈中，Netanyahu总理决定要将会议延期，具体日期我现在还不清楚。”Abbas如是说道。

Netanyahu said the meeting cannot take place because of the conditions imposed by the Palestinians, something Abbas denies.

Netanyahu表示，这次会议将无法举行，因为在巴勒斯坦开出的条件中，有些东西是Abbas拒绝接受的。

"Only yesterday (Monday), Palestinian spokesmen conveyed that they are ready to meet, but there are conditions - releasing prisoners, they want to know what the results of the talks will be.If Mahmoud Abbas is ready to meet, without preconditions,for direct talks,I am ready at any time,” said Netanyahu.

“就在昨天（周一），巴勒斯坦发言人传达了他们准备来跟我们会面的消息，不过这是有条件的——我们得释放囚犯，而且他们想知道这次会谈结果将如何。如果Mahmoud Abbas愿意来与我们见面，并且没有前提条件，就是直接进行谈判，那么我随时待命。”Netanyahu说道。

Netanyahu Tuesday was in the Hague, where angry protesters condemned⁴ his treatment of the Palestinians, especially the blockade of Gaza.The Israeli leader was in the Netherlands to discuss the Dutch government’s help in improving water and energy supplies to the Palestinian coastal⁵ strip.

Netanyahu周二时正在海牙，在这里，愤怒的抗议者谴责了他对待巴勒斯坦人的方式，尤其是封锁加沙的行为。这位以色列领导人当时正在荷兰，商讨荷兰政府帮助改善水资源和能源供应状况以供给巴勒斯坦沿岸地带的相关事宜。

"We have no battle, no qualms⁶ with the people of Gaza, only with the band of terrorist thugs who’ve taken them blackmail⁷.So we fight the terrorists, but we want to help the population, and the first step is to improve the supply of energy and water to Gaza, including laying a gas pipeline," said Netanyahu.

“我们与加沙人民没有冲突与嫌隙，只与这帮恐怖主义暴徒有矛盾，我们觉得他们就是在敲诈。所以尽管与恐怖主义作斗争，我们却还是想要帮助这里的人民，首先我们就是要改善加沙的能源和水资源供给状况，其中包括铺设天然气管线。”Netanyahu如是说道。

Israeli forces fired shells into Gaza Tuesday.Officials said they were targeting Hamas positions, but they also damaged civilian⁸ homes.Hamas fighters frequently throw rockets into Israel and Israeli forces respond by bombarding what they believe are Hamas positions.

以色列军队周二向加沙发射了炮弹。官员称他们当时的发射目标是哈马斯据点，不过最后证明他们也毁坏了许多平民的家园。哈马斯武装人员经常向以色列投射火箭弹，以色列军方也不甘示弱，以轰炸他们认为的哈马斯所在据点作回应。

Decades of U.S.-mediated Middle East peace efforts have failed to bring lasting⁹ peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

几十年来，美国一直努力为中东地区的和平进行调解，但最后还是没能为以色列和巴基斯坦人民带来持久和平。

1 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

7 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。