2007年VOA标准英语-Jordan, Egypt to Lead Arab Peace Drive; Israel

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
19 April 2007

The Arab League has picked Egypt and Jordan to take the lead in approaching Israel to promote the newly revived Arab peace plan aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. VOA correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal announced Wednesday evening that the Arab League has chosen Egypt and Jordan to form its new working group tasked with convincing Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative that was re-launched at a special summit in Riyadh last month.

He said, "Egypt and Jordan, the two countries that recovered their land [from Israel], will exert efforts to implement¹ the Arab peace initiative and to facilitate a start to direct negotiations²."

They are the only two Arab states that already have peace deals and full diplomatic relations with Israel.

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Tzipi Livni (26 Mar 2007)

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday expressed disappointment that the working group included only the two Arab states that have already established ties with Israel. Her office issued a statement saying she is prepared to meet with Egypt and Jordan to discuss the initiative, but also urged the Arab League to "show flexibility⁴" and agree to wider talks.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa had said other Arab states will only agree to talk if Israel meets a set of conditions, which include ending the economic embargo⁵ on the Palestinian government, halting expansion of West Bank settlements and stopping construction of the separation barrier around the West Bank.

Moussa said, "If Israel does that, an extended Arab work group would contact the Israeli government to discuss ways of achieving a peaceful settlement in a fixed⁶ time frame. This is exactly what we intend. There is no normalization⁷ for free."

Switching from Arabic into English, Moussa said the Arab states are open to peace, and they hope Israel is too.

"We hope that this will open the way for the Israeli government to move on and change its policy in the occupied territories, something that would open the gates for more contacts, wider contacts, and lead to a meaningful and hopefully successful negotiating process," he said.

A day after Jordan and Egypt were designated the Arab representatives for the plan, Dalia Yitzik, the Israeli speaker of the Knesset, who is also Israel's acting⁸ president, was in Jordan Thursday for talks with King Abdullah. The king told her and a 10-member Knesset delegation⁹ that the Arab initiative represents "a historic opportunity to achieve Middle East peace and end decades of conflict between Arabs and Israelis."

A Saudi waiter serves tea for Arab leaders during closing session of Arab summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 29 Mar 2007

The Saudi-brokered peace plan offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab countries in exchange for Israeli withdrawal¹⁰ from all land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Israel initially¹¹ rejected the proposal when it was first signed in Beirut in 2002, but has lately said it views the plan as a possible basis for negotiations.

The Arab League formally re-launched the initiative last month in Riyadh, and a flurry of diplomatic activity has followed

1 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

2 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。

3 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

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 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。

8 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。

9 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

10 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。