美国国家公共电台 NPR Palestinians Eye Israeli Settlements With Unease, Hoping For Foreign Support

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

We're going to hear now about what some Palestinians thought of the debate this week over Israeli settlements. The U.S. decided¹ not to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning² settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Secretary of State Kerry said that territory is up for negotiation³ and that settlements jeopardize⁴ chances for peace. Israeli leaders responded angrily. NPR's Daniel Estrin spoke⁵ to some Palestinians with a close-up view of the issue.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁶: I met Jad Isaac in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. He runs a research institute for sustainable development. His office faces a hill covered in rows of homes - a Jewish settlement. It's one of the reasons Isaac listened closely to what John Kerry said in his speech this week.

JAD ISAAC: Frankly⁷, I was very happy hearing it.

ESTRIN: Kerry warned in his speech that continued Israeli settlement construction would make it impossible for Palestinians to ever have a sovereign state. Isaac sees this possibility unfolding before his eyes every day through his window.

ISAAC: Look, look, here, here, here. This is Har Homa.

ESTRIN: Har Homa is an Israeli settlement on land captured in 1967, now home to nearly 20,000 Israelis. Israel considers it a neighborhood of Jerusalem, but it looks close enough to be a neighborhood of Bethlehem. Isaac pointed⁸ out construction cranes and showed me a map of new areas being built.

ISAAC: There is another one here, another one here. You can see it's not done haphazardly⁹. The intention is to form a wall of settlements to totally segregate¹⁰ Jerusalem from Bethlehem.

ESTRIN: Meaning, it would stand between Bethlehem and the city Palestinians claim as their future capital. President-elect Donald Trump¹¹ is expected to be supportive of Jewish settlements. Isaac hopes other world powers will get involved to restart peace talks.

ISAAC: The United States cannot be the only broker¹² for the negotiations¹³, and we want a well-defined timeline.

ESTRIN: He echoes what Palestinian officials have been saying in recent days. They'd like to bypass the Trump administration and have the international community lead peace talks. Next month, some 70 countries are expected to meet in Paris. They could use the U.N. resolution that deems Israeli settlements illegal to help define the terms of the talks. For its part, Israel says settlements are not the root of the conflict. Israel blames Palestinian violence and rejection¹⁴ of a Jewish state, and it stresses Jewish ties to the land, going back to the Bible. Meanwhile, some Palestinians think it's already too late to create a Palestinian state.

RANA SALMAN: Because it's too complicated now with the facts on the ground, with the Israeli settlements within the West Bank. Geographically¹⁵, it doesn't make any sense.

ESTRIN: Rana Salman is a travel agent who lives around the corner from Isaac's institute. She also has a front-row seat overlooking the Har Homa settlement. She looks at Israeli roads, checkpoints and buildings throughout the West Bank and doesn't believe the two sides can be separated. She'd like Israelis and Palestinians to live together in one state.

And what would that one state be called?

SALMAN: I don't care now about the name, more about human rights for everyone, equal rights and living in dignity for everyone.

ESTRIN: John Kerry spoke about this in his speech, too. He said if Israel becomes one state for Jews and Arabs, it can either be Jewish or Democratic. It cannot be both. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Bethlehem.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 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。

4 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 haphazardly   

adv.偶然地，随意地，杂乱地

参考例句：

• The books were placed haphazardly on the shelf. 书籍乱七八糟地堆放在书架上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is foolish to haphazardly adventure. 随便冒险是愚蠢的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 segregate   

adj.分离的，被隔离的；vt.使分离，使隔离

参考例句：

• We have to segregate for a few day.我们得分离一段日子。
• Some societies still segregate men and women.有的社会仍然将男女隔离。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

13 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。

14 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

15 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分