VOA常速英语2007-Jerusalem Emerges as Stumbling Block in Mideast

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
11 October 2007

Jerusalem is emerging as a major stumbling block in new peace negotiations¹ between Israel and the Palestinians.  As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, both Jews and Muslims are claiming the city's holy sites as their own.

A senior Palestinian official has thrown a wrench² into peace talks by saying that the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, the holiest place in Judaism, belongs to Islam and the Palestinians.

The Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Adnan Husseini says the Western Wall is a "Wakf" or Islamic Trust that must be returned to Palestinian control.  He told Israel Radio that it is a supporting wall for the al-Aksa Mosque³, the third holiest place in Islam.

For Israel, the wall is the last remnant of the biblical Temple, and turning it over to the Palestinians is unthinkable.

As Israel and the Palestinians try to hammer out a declaration of principles to be presented at an international peace conference this year, Jerusalem is back on the negotiating table.

In a compromise proposal earlier this week, Israel offered to hand over some Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem to Palestinian control, though that would not include the Old City, where contested holy sites are located.

Israeli parliamentarian Reuven Rivlin, of the hawkish⁴ opposition⁵ Likud party, says the government made a mistake by negotiating on Jerusalem in the first place.  

Rivlin told Israel Radio that if you begin by offering Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians then you end at the Western Wall.  He said no Israeli leader has the right to negotiate over Jerusalem, which he says is the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

Reinforcing Palestinian demands, President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel must withdraw from all territory captured in the 1967 war, including Jerusalem's Old City.  Israel's government says that is a non-starter.  

1 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。

2 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

5 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。