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233 第三方监控力量对中东意味着什么？
Monitors for the Middle East - What to Expect?
Ed Warner
Washington
25 Jul 2001 19:40 UTC
Pressure is mounting to put international observers between Israelis and Palestinians, to try to end the violence and 1)restore peace. Would this work? The results of such 2)intervention in the past are mixed, but one analyst offers a new suggestion.
Outside observers in 3)conflicts only work as well as the warring parties permit. That is the consensus about the effectiveness of monitors who try to bring peace or at least reduce the violence.
The introduction of observers has a mixed record in Israeli-Arab disputes, says Clyde Mark, a specialist in Middle East Affairs at the Congressional Research Service in Washington. Where both sides want it to work, it works. "It is a matter of investment," he said. "If a country has an investment in peace, then they are going to make these peace observers work. Best example: Egypt and Israel in the Sinai 4)boundary, where you have a multinational force of observers. It is working. Both sides want it to work."
Mr. Mark says observers have succeeded in keeping the peace between Israelis and Syrians on the Golan Heights. But U.N. monitors have been unable to prevent clashes between Israelis and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. "It may be a case where the Israelis did not trust them, feared that they were not giving a full story," he said. "Palestinians and Lebanese thought they were probably 5)favoring the Israelis too much. So they were less successful. I think it's a matter of commitment on the part of the parties."
Least successful of all is the group of international observers in Hebron, where a few hundred Israeli settlers live in a 6)fortified compound, 7)amid 120 thousand Palestinians. Ever since an American-born 8)zealot gunned down 29 Palestinians at prayer in their 9)mosque in 1994, the town has been a 10)powder keg.
Some 80 observers, mostly from Europe, 11)patrol the tense streets, earning the derision of Israelis. One boy 12)scoffed to The Washington Post: "They are a 13)bunch of tourists from Denmark."
Palestinians say that without arms, the observers cannot control the armed settlers. A Palestinian businessman says that when the settlers beat him, the observers count the blows. They don't stop the beating.
Should observers be armed to 14)strengthen their presence? According to Clyde Mark, that is under consideration. "If you arm them, you are inviting them to take part in the whole process, which means getting engaged in the conflict itself and that means you put them in harm's way," he said. "They also have the responsibility then of firing back, if they think a 15)violation is in progress. It puts them in the middle of a battle. They then become no longer observers, but 16)participants."
David Mack, vice president of the Middle East Institute and a former top U.S. 17)diplomat, thinks one organization might serve as an effective go-between in the Middle East conflict: 18)namely, the CIA. Thrust into the 19)region against its better judgment by the Clinton administration, the CIA managed to gain the confidence of both sides before it was 20)withdrawn by the Bush administration.
Now there is a proposal to give it an even larger role, considering the extent of the 21)breakdown. "If both sides feel that conditions have 22)deteriorated to the extent that they would be willing to accept reasonably objective monitors, who can report back at least to the U.S. Government and an hopefully 23)facilitate better communication between the two sides, I think this might come to pass," said Mr. Mack.
Ambassador Mack says this would work best if the violence subsides first. However, he believes it is no 24)substitute for direct communication between the two sides. "There was a relationship of that sort that seemed to be functioning for a period of time, and that was certainly what I think people should aspire toward," he said. "It is just very hard to get that started without some outside help."
Ambassador Mack says the CIA makes good sense as an observer. He adds, now the two sides, which agree on very little else, must agree to that.
(1) restore[rI5stC:(r)]vt.恢复, 使回复, 归还, 重建
(2) intervention[IntE5venF(E)n]n.干涉
(3) conflict[5kRnflIkt]n.斗争, 冲突vi.抵触, 冲突
(4) boundary[5baJndErI]n.边界, 分界线
(5) favor[5feIvE(r)] vt.支持, 赞成, 照顾, 促成
(6) fortified adj.加强的
(7) amid[E5mId]prep.在...中
(8) zealot[5zelEt]n.狂热者
(9) mosque[mRsk]n.清真寺
(10) powder keg n. 火药桶；火药箱
(11) patrol[pE5trEJl]v.出巡, 巡逻n.巡逻
(12) scoff[skRf; (?@) skC:f]n.嘲笑, 愚弄, 笑柄v.轻蔑地说, 嘲弄, 贪吃, 狼吞虎咽
(13) bunch[bQntF]n.串, 束v.捆成一束
(14) strengthen[5streNW(E)n]v.加强, 巩固
(15) violation[ 9vaIE`leIFEn ]n.违反, 违背, 妨碍, 侵害
(16) participant[pB:5tIsIpEnt]n.参与者, 共享者adj.参与的
(17) diplomat[5dIplEmAt]n.外交官, 有外交手腕的人, 有权谋的人
(18) namely[5neImlI]adv.即, 也就是
(19) region[5ri:dVEn]n.区域, 地方, (世界上某个特定的)地区
(20) withdraw[wIT5drC:]vt.收回, 撤消vi.缩回, 退出v.撤退
(21) breakdown[5breIkdaJn]n.崩溃, 衰弱
(22) deteriorate[dI5tIErIEreIt]v.(使)恶化
(23) facilitate[fE5sIlIteIt]vt.推动, 帮助, 使容易, 促进
(24) substitute[5sQbstItju:t; (?@) -tu:t]n.代替者, 替代品v.替换, 替代
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