2006年VOA标准英语-EU Ministers Say Hamas Win Puts Future Pal

By Sonja Pace
Jerusalem
30 January 2006

Following last week's Hamas election victory, European foreign ministers met in Brussels Monday and called on Hamas to renounce¹ violence or risk the loss of valuable aid programs. The United States has also threatened to cut off funds, and Israel says it will not allow any transfer of money to what it calls terrorists.

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Members of Hamas celebrate electoral victory
  

Still reeling from last week's Hamas electoral win, European ministers huddled² in Brussels to discuss their next steps. The European Union is the largest aid donor³ to the Palestinians and provides hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance.

EU ministers said future aid is in doubt unless Hamas agrees to renounce violence, disarm⁴ its militia⁵ and recognize Israel's right to exist.

Europe and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization and Washington has also said it is re-evaluating its aid programs.

Speaking at a news conference in London, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is attentive⁶ to the humanitarian⁷ needs of the Palestinian people.  But, she said, Hamas cannot have it both ways - advocate peace and violence at the same time.

Condoleezza Rice (file photo)  
  
"I think we're all saying exactly the same thing, that there are choices now confronting Hamas and we will see what they do," she said.

Rice is in London for a meeting of the "Quartet," which includes the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, and which has taken the lead in trying to revive Middle East peace negotiations⁸.

The United States has set aside more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinians and has indicated that for now funds would be delivered to the government of President Mahmoud Abbas, which has no links to Hamas.

 
Ismail Haniyeh 
  
Speaking in Ramallah on Monday, President Abbas called on the international community not to halt funds.  Earlier, newly elected Hamas lawmaker Ismail Haniyeh made a similar appeal.  Speaking in Gaza, Haniyeh reassured⁹ donors¹⁰ that all aid will go to the Palestinian people to pay for salaries and essential services to improve people's daily lives.

But Hamas leaders have also taken on a more defiant¹¹ tone, saying they'll not be blackmailed¹² and will turn to Arab and Muslim donors if the West cuts off its funding.

For its part, Israel has also threatened to halt the transfer of millions of dollars in customs and tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Money has become a major issue as Hamas prepares  to form a government.  Donors have said they will not give money to an extremist organization that advocates violence and yet they are also aware that cutting off funding will further hurt already poverty stricken Palestinians and could result in greater chaos¹³ and violence.

Palestinian political analyst¹⁴, Ali Jerbawi of Ramallah's Birzeit University, said the international community must respect the vote outcome and the fact that Hamas members will control the legislature.  But, he said, wait and see what sort of government Hamas forms.

"The government might be from Hamas or from outside Hamas and I think that Hamas is going to go for an outside government," he said.

Jerbawi said a future Palestinian government made up of respected technocrats¹⁵ with no ties to Hamas would be more acceptable to the international community and could provide a way out - allowing aid to be funneled¹⁶ to the government, but not specifically to Hamas.

1 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

2 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

3 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

4 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 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。

9 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

12 blackmailed   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He was blackmailed by an enemy agent (into passing on state secrets). 敌特威胁他（要他交出国家机密）。
• The strikers refused to be blackmailed into returning to work. 罢工者拒绝了要挟复工的条件。

13 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 technocrats   

n.技术专家，专家政治论者( technocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Few business barons remained. They were replaced by "technocrats," who became the heads of corporations. 企业巨头所剩无几，大多已被“技术专家”所代替，这些人成了公司的领导。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• However, bankers called the technocrats' bluff and proceeded to lend with gusto. 但是，银行家们称技术专家官员不过在虚张声势，并且还会乐观的继续借贷业务。 来自互联网

16 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。