Arab leaders tried to patch over their differences as a two-day summit in Kuwait drew to a close, but the Gaza conflict appears to have exacerbated the tensions.
阿拉伯领导人在科威特举行的为期两天的首脑会谈结束，各国领导试图弥补他们的分歧，但是加沙的冲突看来已经导致紧张加剧。
Arab leaders began their Kuwait summit, Monday, amid discord, and ended it, a day later, amid more discord. Attempts to find a common position on the conflict in Gaza and towards Israel seemingly failed, leaving rival Arab camps as divided as ever.
阿拉伯领导人在不协调的气氛中从星期一开始了他们在科威特的首脑会谈，一天以后又在更不协调的气氛中结束了会谈。就加沙冲突和如何对待以色列的问题找到一个共同立场的打算似乎已经失败，让持不同立场的阿拉伯阵营和以往一样抱持分歧。
Arab leaders did, however, agree to a plan to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip, promising a total of $2 billion to reconstruct what was damaged or demolished in the 21-day conflict between Israel and Hamas militants.
不过阿拉伯领导人的确同意重建饱受战争蹂躏的加沙地带的计划，承诺拿出20亿美元来重建经过21天以色列和哈马斯冲突中被损坏和被夷平的建筑和设施。
Iraqi Foreign Minister Houshiyar Zubeiri told Kuwaiti TV that the summit's final declaration avoided a common position on Gaza because Arab leaders had "run out of time" to reconcile their differences, and because "some [leaders] remain entrenched in their positions."
伊拉克外长祖贝里对科威特电视台说，这次首脑会谈的最后宣言避开了对加沙问题的共同立场，因为阿拉伯领导人已经“没有时间”就他们的分歧进行和解了，也因为“一些领导人固守他们的立场”。
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa sounded unusually downbeat and discouraged in a press conference after the summit.
阿拉伯联盟秘书长穆萨以一种不同寻常的悲观和气馁的口气在首脑会谈以后的记者会上发表讲话，形容阿拉伯内部关系是一种麻烦的状态。
He said the Arab state of affairs remains troubled and tense. He said, "we tried, Monday, to start rebuilding after the important speech by [Saudi] King Abdallah [calling for an end to discord]." But, he concludes, "things are still not back to normal, in my view, and we must make intensive efforts in order to repair the damage."
他说，阿拉伯事务的状态仍然是麻烦的、紧张的。星期一沙特国王阿卜杜拉呼吁结束纷争的重要讲话之后，我们试图开始重建，但是，他总结说，事态还没有恢复正常，以我的观点，我们必须付出巨大的努力，来修补损失。
Moussa did, however, make a special point to emphasize that the 2002 Arab peace initiative towards Israel, remains on the table, despite events in Gaza, and despite calls from Syria and Iran to withdraw it.
不过穆萨确实指出了特殊的一点，就是强调2002年阿拉伯向以色列提出的和平倡议，这个问题仍然在谈判桌上，尽管出现了加沙的冲突，尽管出现了叙利亚和伊朗要求撤销倡议的呼声。
The 2002 Arab peace initiative, he says, did not figure in the summit's closing statement, but he said it remains valid, and he said Arab leaders have no quarrels over the initiative, which he calls a common point of view. But, he adds, the initiative can't remain on the table much longer, if after seven years Israel still hasn't accepted it.
他说，2002年阿拉伯的和平倡议没有在首脑会谈结束的声明中提及，但倡议仍然有效，阿拉伯领导人对这一倡议没有争议，他说这是一个共同的观点。但是他补充说，如果以色列7年以后仍没有接受这一倡议，那它则不会被保留太久。
Paul Salem, who heads the Beirut-based Carnegie Center for Peace in the Middle East, explained that the Arabs had papered over their profound differences which had arisen during the Gaza conflict. "Definitely, the two camps remain; papering over some of the differences was expected and is sort of the normal course of affairs in Arab affairs. The idea of conciliation and sort of moving forward and not bringing out differences too much into the open, but nobody's position has changed, but it was necessary to save face for the Arab leaders, in general, for the regimes in general, to show that they could agree, at least after the Gaza war was over," he said.
塞勒姆是设在贝鲁特的卡内基中东和平中心的主任。他解释说，加沙冲突再次让阿拉伯世界出现分歧，但是各位领导人一度掩盖处在他们之间的这一深刻分歧。他说：“肯定，这两个阵营仍然存在，搁置一些分歧也是估计到的，是阿拉伯事务中的一种正常状态。和解和向前推进的想法，不把分歧公开表现太多的想法都有，但是没有人改变立场，总体来说，这些阿拉伯国家领导人要顾及面子，总体来说这些国家要显示他们可以同意，至少是在加沙战火停止之后可以同意。”
Salem was, however, more optimistic about the long term prospects for peace. "The Gaza events certainly divided people, but there is more areas of agreement as to how to move forward in terms of bringing Hamas and Fatah together, in terms of reconstructing the Gaza Strip, in terms of trying to revive negotiations with Israel, and encouraging the U.S. administration to do so," he said.
As the new Obama administration takes office, it will both have to work with the camp of traditional U.S. allies, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as to make some sort of overture to the opposing camp of foes and adversaries, which includes Iran and Syria.
目前正值美国总统奥巴马走马上任，美国新政府必将和美国传统盟友合作，包括埃及、约旦、沙特和科威特，同时也会跟对立阵营的夙敌及对手进行初步交涉，其中包括伊朗和叙利亚。 |