美国为退出联合国种族大会辩护

  

US Defends Withdrawal¹ from Racism² Conference

Scott Stearns

White House

4 Sep 2001 

 

The Bush Ministration said that it withdrew from U.N. anti-racism conference in South Africa because the meeting's proposed final document included anti-Israeli language. But, Arab groups 1)blame the United States for failing to 2)compromise on the issue.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the United States and Israel walked out of the conference Monday because the meeting's draft declaration included a condemnation³ of the Israeli treatment of Palestinians. "It is an unfortunate 3)throwback to the old days where these conferences worked in a 4)counterproductive fashion," he said. "This has been a lost opportunity for America and people throughout the world who are concerned about 5)racism, and it is unfortunate that people in this conference brought it to the point where America and Israel had no choice but to leave the conference."

Arab delegates at the conference insisted on including language attacking "the racist⁴ practices of Zionism" and calling Israel's treatment of Palestinians a "new kind of 6)apartheid." 7)Zionism is the movement that helped found the modern state of Israel. Mr. Fleischer called that language anti-Semitic. "I think there is no question that at a conference that should have been dedicated⁵ to fighting 8)intolerance, the language that it has chosen to use in describing Israel is laced with intolerance," he said.

President Bush said repeatedly the United States would not take part in a conference that 9)isolates a "friend and strong 10)ally" in Israel. He did send a state department official to the start of the conference in hopes of convincing organizers to drop the anti-Israeli language.

When delegates refused, Secretary of State Colin Powell withdrew the official on Monday. Mr. Powell said he did so with regret "because of the importance of the international fight against racism." But he said, "you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language."

U.S. and Norwegian diplomats⁶ met with Palestinian and other Arab officials to try and 11)amend the language. Arab leaders say the Bush administration failed to compromise by insisting only that Israel and the Palestinians return to the peace process without mentioning the Israeli army's role in the latest round of violence.

 

 

(1)      blame[bleIm]n.过失, 责备vt.责备, 谴责

(2)      compromise[5kRmprEmaIz]n.妥协, 折衷v.妥协, 折衷

(3)      throwback[ `WrEJbAk ]n.掷回, 挫折, 阻止, 大倒退

(4)      counterproductive adj.反生产的, 使达不到预期目标的

(5)      racism n.种族主义, 人种偏见, 种族歧视

(6)      apartheid[E5pB:theIt]n.(南非)种族隔离

(7)      Zionism[5zaIEnIz(E)m]n.犹太复国主义,犹太复国运动

(8)      intolerance[In`tClErLns]n.(尤指对别人的意见)不能忍耐, 不容异说

(9)      isolate[5aIsEleIt]vt.使隔离, 使孤立n.隔离种群

(10)      ally[5AlaI]v.结盟, 同盟n.同盟国, 支持者

(11)      amend[E5mend]v.修正, 改进, 改正

 

 

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

4 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 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》