UN General Assembly Overwhelmingly Affirms Palestinian Sover

 

Peter Heinlein
 
The U.N. General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a non-binding resolution affirming Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The United States and Israel were among a handful of countries voting against the measure.

The vote was 140 - 6, with 11 abstentions. Four Pacific island nations - Nauru, Palau, the Marshal Islands and Micronesia - joined the United States and Israel in opposition¹.

The measure approved Thursday, declares that the status of all Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 remains² one of military occupation. It affirms the right of Palestinian people to sovereignty over the territory.

European Union countries voted en masse for the resolution. An EU spokesman said the measure reaffirms the position outlined by the quartet of Middle East peace mediators at a meeting this week at the United Nations.

The quartet - comprising the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - issued a statement saying all so-called final status issues must be decided³ through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations⁵. Final status issues include the question of sovereignty over disputed territory.

But in casting his 'no' vote, deputy U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said the resolution flies in the face of the Quartet's statement.

"The Quartet noted⁶ that no party should take unilateral actions that seek to predetermine issues that can only be resolved through negotiation⁴ and agreement between the two parties," he said. "Any final settlement on issues such as borders and refugees must be mutually agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians."

Russia also voted for the measure, leaving the United States alone among members of the quartet in opposition.

Israel's ambassador Dan Gillerman ridiculed⁸ the Assembly's vote. He described the resolution as farcical and a contradiction of this week's Quartet statement.

"This resolution totally ignores the Quartet statement made two days ago and violates the central tenet of the peace process reiterated¹⁰ in the Quartet statement to avoid prejudging the outcome of negotiations," said Israel's Ambassador.

In arguing for the resolution, Palestinian representative Nasser al-Kidwa said it was needed to prevent an attempt by Israel to confer legitimacy¹¹ on its settlements in occupied territory.

"The choice now is between the rule of international law or attempts to impose a de facto illegal situation," said Nasser al-Kidwa. "It is between a real two-state solution, a real state of Palestine in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem or the imprisonment¹² of the Palestinian people. "

Experts say because it is non-binding, the General Assembly resolution will have little effect on peacemaking efforts. But European diplomats¹³ said after the vote it would be necessary to reconcile the apparent split among Quartet members before pushing ahead with the Road Map peace initiative.

注释:
General Assembly 联合国会员大会
overwhelmingly [7EuvE5welmiN] adj. 不可抵抗地
non-binding 非束缚的
handful [5hAndful] n. 少数
abstention [Eb5stenF(E)n] n. 弃权
Pacific island nations 太平洋岛国
Nauru [nB:5u:ru:] 瑙鲁，西太平洋岛国，在赤道附近
Palau [pB:5lau] 帕劳群岛，位于西太平洋，即帛琉群岛
the Marshal Islands 马歇尔岛
Micronesia [9maikrEu5ni:zIE] n. 密克罗尼西亚（西太平洋岛群，意为"小岛群岛"）
territory [5teritEri] n. 领土
en masse [BN 5mAs] v. 全体地
status [5steitEs] n. 情形
James Cunningham 詹姆斯·坎宁安，美国驻联合国副代表
unilateral [5ju:ni5lAtErEl] adj. 单方面
ridicule⁷ [5ridikju:l] n. 嘲笑
farcical [5fB:sikEl] adj. 滑稽的
contradiction [kRntrE5dikF(E)n] n. 矛盾
violate [5vaiEleit] vt. 违反
tenet [5ti:net] n. 原则，宗旨
reiterate⁹ [ri:5itEreit] vt. 重申
Nasser al-Kidwa 拿瑟-阿克迪瓦，巴勒斯坦驻联合国永久观察员
legitimacy [l i5dVitimEsi] n. 合法性
de facto [deI5fAktEJ]adj. 事实上的
imprisonment [Im5prizEnmEnt] n. 关押
peacemaking [5pi:s9meikiN] n. 调停
reconcile [5rekEnsail] vt. 使和解

 

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 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。

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 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

8 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

10 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

13 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》