VOA标准英语2008年-President Bush to Push Israelis, Palestinians t

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
08 January 2008

Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president held a final round of talks, Tuesday in a bid to smooth over differences before both men meet separately with President George Bush, this week, during his visit to Israel and the West Bank. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem that recent disagreements between Israelis and Palestinians have analysts¹ saying there are diminished expectations for the visit.

There is a building boom going on in Jerusalem. Nowhere is that more evident than in Har Homa, a neighborhood of neat houses that sits on a steep hill overlooking the West Bank city, Bethlehem. Har Homa is in East Jerusalem and has been built on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. When Israel recently announced it was going to build 300 new homes in Har Homa, Palestinians reacted with anger. They say the construction is a violation² of Israel's commitment made last year at the Annapolis, Maryland, Mideast peace conference to freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank.

But Israeli officials say Har Homa is part of Jerusalem, which they say is Israel's eternal capital. Those who live there agree. Ofer Tal says Har Homa is his home and, although he supports peace talks with Palestinians, he has no plans to move.

"I think Har Homa is part of Jerusalem, it is part of Israel. We can share the place with the Arabs, they can and live beside us, we do not care, but the area is open for everybody," he said.

President Bush will not visit Har Homa and, even though American officials recently raised the issue of Har Homa with Israeli officials, Mr. Bush is unlikely to press Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the matter. Instead, Mr. Bush has said he will focus on the issue of illegal outposts constructed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. There are more than 100 such outposts and Mr. Olmert has pledged to dismantle³ some of them. Uri Dromi is a newspaper columnist⁴ and director of the Mishkenot Sha'ananim conference center in Jerusalem. He says even that limited objective could prove difficult for Mr. Olmert to achieve.

"There are already warnings from the right wing that, if things like this happen, they will put out of the government immediately. So it remains⁵ to be seen. This government has not tackled a serious issue up to now, and this is really a time of testing for this government," said Dromi.

When Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last met President Bush at the Annapolis Mideast peace conference, both men pledged to re-commit themselves to the peace process. Israel would stop settlement activity, and Mr. Abbas' security forces would crack down on militant⁶ activity in the West Bank.

However, since then, the two sides have grown farther apart, with Palestinians condemning⁷ Israel's continued West Bank settlement construction and Israeli officials voicing frustration⁸ and anger at continued militant activity in the West Bank and the continued firing of rockets at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Mahdi Abdel Hadi, who heads the Palestinian research group, PASSIA, says perhaps the best that Mr. Bush can hope for during his visit is to reassert the traditional role of the United States as honest broker⁹ between the two sides.

"Usually the accomplishment¹⁰ is not moving things forward or backward," he said. "The accomplishment is to reconfirm the American position on the need for a two-state solution, to reconfirm the American position on East Jerusalem as an occupied city, to reconfirm the American position that Israel should halt the settlements. If he (Bush) can do that, it will be an accomplishment by itself."

In a series of interviews given before he left for the Middle East, Mr. Bush hinted he will have a limited objective during his visit. Although he says he believes conditions are in his words "ripe for peace," he also said the peace process is difficult and that hard choices will be required from both sides, saying a lot of work will have to be done to implement¹¹ the peace process.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 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。

4 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

5 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。

6 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

7 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

10 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

11 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。