VOA标准英语2014--Kerry Faces More Hurdles in Pursuit of Mideast Peace 克里追求的中东和平仍面临许多障碍

 

Kerry Faces More Hurdles¹ in Pursuit of Mideast Peace 克里追求的中东和平仍面临许多障碍

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the latest efforts to secure a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians are slowly but surely making progress. But as he prepares for his 11th trip to the region as secretary of state, not everyone shares his optimism.

A determined² and confident Kerry, when leaving Israel earlier this week, told reporters talks are on the right track.

"The path is becoming clearer.  The puzzle is becoming more defined," said Kerry.

But in a West Bank village on Tuesday there was more confusion and violence.

"I was working on my land along with my tractor driver and we sat down to eat and have lunch. Suddenly around 30 [Jewish] settlers came towards us. We ran away and we started shouting and asking for help,"  said farmer Mahmood Tobasi.

Israel's military said it responded to reports of stone-throwing between settlers and Palestinian farmers, later evacuating³ 11 settlers.

It's in situations like this that U.S. talk of moving toward a framework agreement - getting the core issues in focus - starts to falls short.

Neil Kritz with the U.S. Institute of Peace says that those directly must feel that the process is impacting their lives.

“People need to see that this negotiation⁴ results also in positive changes on a day to day basis. Not just efforts to make things look better, but real efforts that are not just way stations, that move in the direction of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution,” says Kritz.

Yet wherever Palestinians and Israelis look, there are still signs that little, so far, has changed, whether it’s Israel's continued building of settlements on contested lands or Palestinians celebrating the release of prisoners, men Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called murderers.

"Instead of preparing Palestinians for peace, Palestinian leaders are teaching them to hate Israel," said Netanyahu.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat took his own shots, suggesting to London-based Asharq Al-Awsat he fears for the life of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, referencing old, discredited⁵ allegations that Israel poisoned the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Yet there are those who think a framework agreement is still possible. Among them is Aaron Miller⁶ from the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

“Part of the reality is that this is driven by two leaders who don’t want to be blamed for the collapse⁷ of this process," says Miller.

But Miller, a former State Department adviser⁸ who has been a part of past negotiations⁹, says getting much further with Netanyahu and Abbas will be a challenge.

“The reality is, to do this you need them to be heroic peacemakers because they strategically have bought off on this and they are prepared to make the kinds of decisions, take the kinds of decisions necessary.  That’s not the case here,” says Miller.

For now, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry seems determined to try.

1 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 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。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 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。