Rice Winds Up Mideast Visit With No Sign of Progress
赖斯结束中东之行未取得进展
The United States' top diplomat has concluded a peace mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories. But she has little to show for it.
美国国务卿赖斯结束了她在以色列和巴勒斯坦领土上的和平使命,但是她并没有取得什么成果。
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wound up her visit by hosting a trilateral meeting with the Israeli defense minister and Palestinian prime minister. But after two days of talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank there was no sign of progress in peace talks sponsored by the United States.
赖斯国务卿在访问结束时主持了由以色列国防部长和巴勒斯坦总理一起参加的三方会议。但是,在耶路撒冷和约旦河西岸为期两天的会谈结束后,这次由美国主办的和平谈判并没有取得进展的迹象。
The headline of the visit was Rice's unusually harsh criticism of Israeli settlement expansion in disputed East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Rice did not speak to reporters before she left Israel. But on Sunday, she was clearly angry over Israeli plans to build 1,300 new homes in East Jerusalem, on land the Palestinians claim for their future capital.
赖斯中东之行最引人注目的消息是她对以色列在有争议的东耶路撒冷和约旦河西岸地区扩展定居点提出尖锐的批评。赖斯在离开以色列之前并没有对记者们发表讲话,但是在星期天,她显然为以色列在东耶路撒冷建造1千3百个新住房的计划感到愤怒。巴勒斯坦把东耶路撒冷看作未来巴勒斯坦国的首都。
"No party should be taking steps at this point that could prejudice the outcome of a negotiation, and I want to make very clear that the United States will not consider these activities to affect any final status negotiations including final borders; these are to be negotiated between the parties," she said.
她说:“目前,任何一方都不应采取任何可能影响谈判结果的行动。我要非常清楚地指出,美国不会让这些行为影响任何有关最终地位的谈判,包括最终边界问题。这些问题需要各方协商确定。”
Israel says it has the right to build anywhere in Jerusalem because it will remain the capital of the Jewish state in any final peace agreement.
以色列说,它有权在耶路撒冷任何地方修建定居点,因为无论达成什么样的和平协议,耶路撒冷都将继续是以色列的首都。
Israeli spokesman Mark Regev says there are differences but not a crisis.
以色列政府发言人雷格夫说,有关各方的确存在分歧,但谈判并没有陷入危机。
"Success isn't guaranteed. There are a lot of sensitive issues on the table, but I can say that we in Israel, and I believe the Palestinian leadership too, are committed to doing the work that needs to be done," said Regev.
他说:“我不能保证谈判会成功。桌面上有很多敏感的问题需要解决。但是我可以说,我们以色列会全力完成需要完成的工作,我相信巴勒斯坦方面也是这样。”
Palestinian analyst Mahdi Abdel Hadi is less optimistic. He says settlement activity is eroding support for the peace process.
巴勒斯坦分析人士哈迪则没有这么乐观。他说,建立定居点的活动正在逐渐减少人们对和平进程的支持。
"Israel is controlling the land and this is creating more hate and more frustration, more anger among the Palestinians," said Hadi.
他说:“以色列控制着这些领土,这在巴勒斯坦人中引发了更多的仇恨、沮丧和愤怒。”
Disputes over settlements, Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem have put further doubt on the U.S. goal of a peace agreement by the end of the year.
定居点问题、巴勒斯坦难民问题和耶路撒冷地位问题所引发的争议使人们更加怀疑美国关于在今年年底以前达成巴以和平协议的目标。