2007年VOA标准英语-Hamas Resignation Paves Way for Palestinian Uni

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
15 February 2007

The Palestinian prime minister resigned late Thursday, paving the way for a Palestinian unity¹ government. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem, the move comes just days before a summit meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

 
Mahmoud Abbas, (r) hands Ismail Haniyeh a letter of appointment authorizing² him to form new coalition³ government in Gaza City, 15 Feb 2007 
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh submitted his resignation during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Gaza Strip.

The procedural move means that Haniyeh will lead a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed leading to a unity government. Fatah, led by Mr. Abbas and Mr. Haniyeh's Hamas faction⁴, agreed to a power-sharing agreement last week in Saudi Arabia in a bid to end factional fighting and revive international donor⁵ assistance, which has been suspended because of the Hamas refusal to recognize Israel.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Abbas said a new government would be formed within weeks.

The Palestinian president called on the new government to respect international agreements, a reference to peace agreements signed between the Fatah-led PLO and Israel.

For his part, Ismail Haniyeh says he will work to achieve a national unity government.

Mr. Haniyeh said he is dissolving his government, which came to power last year, and any new government will follow the terms of the Mecca power-sharing agreement.

Thursday's development defuses growing tensions between the two groups since last week's agreement over the composition of a new government.

Ali Jarbawi, who teaches political science at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah, says, however, there are still tensions between Fatah and Hamas.

"We have to be cautious until we see how the internal mechanisms⁶ of this government are going to work," he said. "Hopefully, this agreement will stick. If not, we might have problems, but not now - probably in a few months."

Still unclear is what the new Palestinian government's relationship with Israel will be. The power-sharing deal pledges a new government to recognize past peace agreements between Israel and the Fatah-led PLO, but it does not call for renouncing⁷ violence, or recognizing Israel, measures demanded by Israel and the Middle East Peace Quartet, which is made up of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

 
Mahmoud Abbas

President Abbas is scheduled to hold talks early next week with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He is expected to brief the two on what the new government's policies will be.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in talks with the Israelis, says Mr. Abbas hopes the momentum⁸ of the power-sharing agreement will help revive the Arab-Israeli dialogue.

"We can hope, and we can say many things, but I hope we focus on an agenda for this meeting - identifying where do we want to go from here, and how to get there," he said. "I think that is the main essence of this meeting. It can be a crucial turning point, if we identify where do we want to go from here and how to get there."

Speaking Thursday in Turkey, where he was on an official state visit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel expects any new Palestinian government to meet all three requirements of the Quartet for normal relations and a resumption of economic assistance. Those are, recognition of Israel, a renunciation of violence and respect for past peace agreements.

1 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。

2 authorizing   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Letters of Marque: Take letters from a warning friendly power authorizing privateering. 私掠许可证：从某一个国家获得合法抢劫的证书。
• Formal phavee completion does not include authorizing the subsequent phavee. 阶段的正式完成不包括核准随后的阶段。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 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。

5 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

6 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 renouncing   

v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• He enraged the government by renouncing the agreement. 他否认那项协议，从而激怒了政府。 来自辞典例句
• What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? 抛弃台湾，并转而拥抱北京之后，你会得到什么？ 来自互联网

8 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。