2007年VOA标准英语-Rice Presses Hamas to Renounce Violence

By David Gollust
Washington
19 March 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the new Palestinian unity¹ government should unequivocally renounce² violence to gain international recognition and enter peace talks with Israel. Rice conferred with top European Union officials on the new Palestinian cabinet, whose leader has called for continued "resistance" against Israel. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration is taking a somewhat more conciliatory approach to the new Palestinian government, saying it will have contacts with non-Hamas members of the cabinet.

But it is standing³ by its insistence⁴ that a Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements if it is to expect international aid and be part of a regional peace process.

Condoleezza Rice (l) and Javier Solana at the State Department in Washington, DC

The formation of the new Palestinian government was a key issue in a day-long dialogue here by Secretary Rice and key officials of the European Union, including chief diplomat⁵ Javier Solana.

Solana expressed seeming eagerness by the Europeans to work with the new government, saying he hoped it would at least incrementally⁶ accept peacemaking terms of the international Middle East "Quartet," which includes the EU, Russia and the United Nations as well as the United States.

In the meantime, Solana suggested the actions of the unity government are more important that its rhetoric⁷:

"We would like to continue working with the Palestinian people," said Javier Solana. "We are not going to let the Palestinian people down, and we hope very much to follow in great detail the facts, the deeds that this government behaves. It's much more important what they do that what they say at this point in time."

Secretary Rice however, seized on the declaration by the new government's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh - a holdover from the previous Hamas-led government - reaffirming the Palestinian's "right to resistance" against Israeli occupation:

"I'm not going to try and interpret what the right of resistance means," said Condoleezza Rice. "But I'll tell you, it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of resistance. So I would put the question to the Palestinian government and to its prime minister. Do you mean the right of resistance by violence? And let's get an answer."

The comments here came as the military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack Monday that wounded an Israeli civilian⁸ near the border with the Gaza strip, the first such act since the unity government took office Saturday.

Israel denounced the attack, saying it showed the new coalition⁹ was flouting¹⁰ the will of the international community, while the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack called the incident clearly disturbing and unacceptable.

Earlier McCormack confirmed that unlike the U.S. political boycott¹¹ of the previous Hamas-led Palestinian government, the United States is prepared to talk to non-Hamas members of the new cabinet.

He mentioned in particular the new finance minister, Salam Fayyad of the mainstream¹² Fatah party, a U.S. educated economist¹³ with whom the United States had close ties before the Hamas election victory early last year.

Rice also discussed the new Palestinian government in a telephone conference call Monday with other principals of the Quartet.

A formal Quartet statement is expected Tuesday, which McCormack said would reaffirm a collective ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government unless it met all its terms for dialogue.

Rice is due to begin another mission to the Middle East at the end of this week that will include separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and talks in Cairo with foreign ministers of moderate Arab states.

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 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。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 incrementally   

adv.逐渐地

参考例句：

• Incrementally update the shared dimensions used in this cube. 增量更新此多维数据集中使用的共享维度。 来自互联网
• Grand goals are inspiring, but be sure to approach them incrementally. 辉煌的目标令人鼓舞，但一定要逐步实现。 来自互联网

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 flouting   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• By selling alcohol to minors,the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯罪法。 来自口语例句
• By selling alcohol to minor, the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯法。 来自互联网

11 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

12 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。