2007年VOA标准英语-Rice: Palestinian Unity Deal Complicates Middle

By David Gollust
State Department
16 February 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves late Friday on a Middle East mission she admits has been complicated by last week's Mecca agreement between the main Palestinian factions¹ for a unity² government. The deal has clouded prospects³ for Congressional approval of a Bush administration plan to aid security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

 
Mahmoud Abbas
The Bush administration's strategy has been to try to strengthen the hand of the relatively-moderate Mr. Abbas in his power struggle with the radical⁴ Islamic Hamas movement, which is listed by the United States as a terrorist group.

However, last week's Saudi-brokered agreement, under which Mr. Abbas' mainstream⁵ Fatah movement will form a unity government with Hamas, has raised questions about the administration's approach, and put its plan to aid the Abbas-run security forces under new jeopardy⁶ in Congress.

In Congressional testimony⁷ before her departure for the Middle East and a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Rice said she understood the imperative⁸ of ending the intra-Palestinian conflict. But she said that must not mean the abandonment of the Palestinian Authority chief's commitment to peace with Israel:

 
Condoleezza Rice (file photo)
"I can't say to them that it was wrong to try to stop Palestinians from killing⁹ Palestinian children," she said.

"I can't say that to them. But what I can say to them is that the result of Mecca cannot be that the United States is expected to support the security forces that are not clearly on the side of the 'road map,' the President's two-state solution, the Quartet principles, and so forth¹⁰."

The Bush administration proposed the $86 million package late last year to support an effort by U.S. military envoy¹¹ Major General Keith Dayton to upgrade forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority chief.

But the new head of the House appropriations¹² subcommittee that controls the State Department budget, New York Democrat¹³ Nita Lowey, put a hold on the money even before the Mecca agreement.

During Rice's appearance before the panel Friday, another New York Democrat, Steve Israel, said, in the wake of the Palestinian power-sharing deal, there is broad bipartisan support for withholding¹⁴ the funds.

"I might have been able to support $86 million for the Palestinian Authority to enhance its security capability¹⁵, so that it could enforce peace agreements that it negotiated with Israel," he said. "I would be hard-pressed to support funding for a Palestinian Authority that uses taxpayer¹⁶ dollars from the United States to attack and provoke an American ally."

Rice said she would report back to the subcommittee after her talks in the region as to whether the administration plan remains¹⁷ viable¹⁸. For now, she said, she still believes in the wisdom of supporting Mr. Abbas.

"I don't know what will ultimately become of the Palestinian unity government," she said. "I do know that, if Hamas has strong forces and Mahmoud Abbas does not, that's not good for the United States, that's not good for the Palestinians and it's most certainly not good for Israel."

 
Ehud Olmert
Rice is to hold separate meetings Sunday with Mr. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, then convene¹⁹ the three-way meeting with the two men on Monday.

The secretary says it will be an informal discussion of what a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict will entail²⁰, the first of its kind in six years.

Rice's hope is that bringing focus to the so-called "political horizon" for the Palestinians will help Mr. Abbas and reduce the influence of Hamas, which rejects peace talks with, and recognition of, Israel.

Later next week, she meets Arab officials in Amman, and then goes to Berlin for a meeting Wednesday of the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, which also includes the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

1 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

2 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。

3 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 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。

6 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

12 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

13 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

14 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

15 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

16 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

17 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。

18 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

19 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

20 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。