Palestinian Leaders React Strongly to Bush Implication Israe

 

 

Ross Dunn

 

The Palestinian leadership reacted strongly to statements by President Bush implying Israel has the right to retain some Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Senior Palestinian officials are also angry about what they see as Mr. Bush's denial of the long-standing claim for Palestinian refugees to return to areas that are now part of Israel.

 

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Mr. Bush is the first U.S. president to ever legitimize Jewish settlements by saying that Israel does not have to give back all the land it seized during the 1967 Middle East war.

 

Mr. Qureia was reacting to the outcome of Wednesday's summit at the White House between Mr. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The two leaders discussed Mr. Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and some parts of the West Bank.

 

While agreeing to dismantle¹ some settlements in the West Bank, Mr. Sharon said Israel would retain at least five major settlement blocs² in the territory.

 

Mr. Qureia said that the Palestinian leadership finds unacceptable that Mr. Bush has now effectively backed this move. His opposition³ is being echoed by other members of the Palestinian parliament.

 

Palestinian lawmaker Ziad Abu Zayyad told VOA that Mr. Bush's statements could set back the dream of Palestinian statehood.

 

"He (Mr. Bush) is legitimizing the Jewish settlements in the West Bank," he said. "And legitimizing the Jewish settlements in the West Bank undermines  any effort or any possibility to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank."

 

Mr. Zayyad added that Mr. Bush has no right to give away territory that does not belong to the United States and is being claimed by the Palestinians. He said the president must leave such key issues, including the future status of Palestinian refugees, to be decided⁴ in peace negotiations⁵ between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

 

Palestinian [7pAlis5tiniEn] adj. 巴勒斯坦的

Jewish settlements  犹太人定居点

West Bank （约旦河）西岸

denial [di5naiEl] n. 否认，拒绝

refugee [7refju(:)5dVi:] n. 难民

legitimize [l i5dViti7maiz] v. 宣布合法化

outcome [5autkQm] n. 结果

unilaterally [5ju:nilAtErElli] adv. 单方面，单边的

Gaza Strip  加沙地带，西南亚地中海岸港市，巴勒斯坦的一部分

dismantle [dis5mAntl] v. 拆除

opposition [CpE5ziFEn] n. 意见相反，对立

echo [5ekEu] vt. 重复

parliament [5pB:lEmEnt] n. 国会，议会

set back  v. 阻碍，使受挫折

statehood n. 独立的国家或地区

undermine [7QndE5main] v. 破坏

territory [5teritEri] n. 领土，版图，地域

1 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

2 blocs   

n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The division of Europe into warring blocs produces ever-increasing centrifugal stress. 把欧洲分为作战集团产生了越来越大的离心效果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policy of the two blocs was played out. 把世界分为两个集团的政策已经过时了。 来自辞典例句

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 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。

5 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。