2006年VOA标准英语-Palestinian President Threatens Early Elections

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
10 December 2006

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to call early elections

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

to end an impasse¹ with the ruling Islamic militant² group, Hamas. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, rival Palestinian factions³ appear to be on a collision course.

Mahmoud Abbas told senior members of his Fatah party that early elections are the only way to resolve the deepening political crisis with the Hamas-led Palestinian government. The announcement followed the collapse⁴ of months of talks on forming a more moderate national unity⁵ government, in which Fatah and Hamas would share power.

The aim was to present a government more acceptable to the West, which has imposed crippling sanctions on Hamas. But Hamas rejected demands by Mr. Abbas and the international community to renounce⁶ violence and recognize Israel.

A senior Fatah official, Nabil Shaath, said Hamas is not acting⁷ in the interests of the Palestinian people, who are bearing the brunt of sanctions.

"This serves nobody and serves nothing and can increase the hunger, increase the starvation, increases the lawlessness that has characterized our government in the last few months," said Shaath.

Hamas said Mr. Abbas does not have the legal authority to call elections. It accused him of trying to topple the elected government, and warned that the situation could lead to more violence between the two factions.

"They try actually putting us under pressure. They are trying to undermine the Palestinian cause," noted⁸ Hamas spokesman Ahmed Yousef.

The political crisis has raised tension on the streets. On Saturday, hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Fatah stormed the Gaza parliament building, in protest over unpaid⁹ salaries. Repeated clashes during the past several months have raised fears of a Palestinian civil war.

With that in mind, President Abbas said his decision on calling elections is not final. Officials say he is leaving the door open for further talks with Hamas on a compromise.

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 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。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。