VOA标准英语2010年-Israelis, Palestinian West Bank Reside

The presence of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is at the heart of the impasse¹ facing negotiators. This is one of the key flashpoints in the conflict between Israeli settlers who are determined² to stay and the Palestinian residents who are determined to see them leave.

The Kiryat Arba Jewish settlement sits next to the southern West Bank city of Hebron, long considered ground zero in the conflict between Israeli Jews – who settled here during the past century in the belief this land was given to them by God thousands of years ago – and Palestinians who are natives of this land.

Rabbi Eliezer Waldman is a former member of the Israeli parliament and one of Kiryat Arba's earliest residents. He says he is watching the negotiations³ closely, and hopes they fail.

"I would use the word "concerned" about these negotiations. Unfortunately, we have had experience with leaders who yield and compromise under pressure," said Waldman. "All the yielding and compromising, which was supposed to bring peace, has only brought more terror."

On the other side of a barbed wire fence that divides Kiryat Arba from Hebron lives Sheikh Abu Hader al Ja'abri, head of a prominent Palestinian clan⁴. Known for his work in mediating⁵ conflicts between Palestinian residents and Jewish settlers from Kiryat Arba, Al Ja'abri hears every day from Palestinians who complain about the Jewish settlers encroaching on their land, harassing⁶ them, and barring them from accessing their fields.

He says Arab residents of Hebron are desperate for Palestinian leaders to reach an agreement that will improve their daily lives, but they are not very hopeful.

He says Palestinians are disappointed with the peace process and want results. He says negotiations that started decades ago have brought nothing. Al Ja'abri says Palestinians hoped for an independent state more than 10 years ago. Instead, he says there has been more fighting and life has become worse.

 VOA - L. Ramirez
Head of a prominent Palestinian clan Sheikh Abu Hader al Ja'abri
 

Al Ja'abri says he does not think peace is possible as long as Israeli settlement activity continues.

He says Palestinians will not accept any arrangement that allows for settlements. He says Palestinians might live with whatever agreement the leadership comes back with, but in view of what he says is the aggression⁷ that Arab residents endure from Jewish settlers and from the Israeli military that supports them, no one will accept living alongside the settlements.

Back at Kiryat Arba, Rabbi Waldman says settlers will view any attempt by the Israeli government to pull out of the West Bank as a crime.

"It cannot be done and will not be done," he added. "We have come back to Hebron, which has the deepest roots of a Jewish homeland, and we have come back to stay."

Israel has entered the negotiations without committing to extending a September 26 deadline on a settlement building freeze. A group representing West Bank settlers on Wednesday, said it was resuming construction of at least three structures inside settlements in defiance⁸.

In Hebron and Kiryat Arba, Israeli and Palestinian residents are watching the negotiations closely.

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 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。

4 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

5 mediating   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的现在分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• So many factors are mediating. 如此众多的因素在起作用。
• The contrast in mediating noted in the sitting room. 客厅中注重了调和中的对比。

6 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

8 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。