VOA常速英语2014--奥巴马准备派克里赴中东参加加沙和谈

 

Obama Prepared to Send Kerry to Mideast for Talks on Gaza 奥巴马准备派克里赴中东参加加沙和谈

STATE DEPARTMENT —

U.S. President Barack Obama said he is prepared to send Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East to help end violence between Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza. But American officials face a far different political climate than the last cease-fire in Gaza two years ago.

With Israeli troops across the border in Gaza, international mediators are trying to revive Egyptian efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.

Obama said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. officials are working hard to return to a November 2012 cease-fire.

"Secretary Kerry is working to support Egypt's initiative to pursue that outcome. I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that John is prepared to travel to the region following additional consultations," Obama said.

Hamas opposition¹

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has met with Arab League officials about the Egyptian plan. But it is opposition from Hamas that is blocking progress - as militant² leaders dismiss the plan as "not worth the ink it was written with" -- in their words -- because it includes no relief from the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza's borders.

Hamas' refusal of the deal shows how much has changed since the fall of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood³, which helped broker⁴ the 2012 cease-fire.

"Hamas certainly had a honeymoon⁵ with Egypt during the reign⁶ or rule of Morsi and the Brotherhood. And that honeymoon is clearly over," said former U.S. ambassador Adam Ereli.

Egypt's role

It is over largely because the new Egyptian president, former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has vowed⁷ to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood and is thus far less sympathetic to its Hamas allies.

"Hamas doesn't see Egypt as an honest broker because Hamas -- as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood -- is not treated as a legitimate⁸ player by the Egyptian government," said American University professor Guy Ziv. "And I think that because of the lack of trust between Egypt and Hamas it's going to be very difficult to get a cease-fire going that both Hamas and Israel would be OK with."

That leaves Hamas with few other options as Israel continues to move forward.

"To be a broker you've got to be acceptable to both parties. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries with peace treaties with Israel. So they have credibility with the Israelis, justified⁹ credibility," Ereli said. "If Hamas doesn't think that Egypt is sufficiently¹⁰ neutral in this they're going to be fighting for a long time."

So U.S. officials say Secretary Kerry will focus much of his diplomatic effort on countries with influence over Hamas, including Turkey and Qatar.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 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。

3 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

4 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。

5 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

6 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

9 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

10 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。