美国英语听力80篇4 Lesson68
Passage 68 Middle East Peace Talk
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators plan to re-start
their peace talks on Sunday.
The goal is to reach a final peace agreement before September thirteenth
That is the day Palestinian President yasser Arafat says
he is set to declare a Palestinian state.
On Friday,developments centered on comments
by President Chinton to Israeli television.
Mister Clinton said it would be a "big mistake"for the Palestinians
to declare statehood without Israeli agreement.
He warned that the palestinians would lose Americn aid
However,he said he is sure the two sides can reach an agreement
Mister Clinton described Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
as"more creative and more courageous"
than Mister arafat at the Camp David talks.
He also said he will consider moving the American Embassy
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Palestinians oppose that idea.
They reject Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital.
They want the eastern part of the city to serve as the capital
of a Palestinian state.
The future of Jerusalem was the most difficult issue
at the talks that ended Tuesday at Camp David.
The talks at the presidential home near Washington lasted fifteen days
No agreement was reached.
Still,President Clinton said both sides made real progress.
He noted that for the first time they discussed
all of their most extreme differences.
They reportedly reached compromises on the issues of Palestinian refugees
and the borders of a possible Palestinian state.
Is rael is said to have talked of surrendering 95% of the West Bank
and all of Gaza.And,Israel reportedly agreed to admit
about 100,000 Palestinian refugees.
The refugees would get money from a proposed international fund.
Mister Clinton says the Palestinian team at Camp David also supported
the idea of paying Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries.
Thousands of cheering Palestinians welcomed Yasser Arafat
on his return to Gaza Wednesday.
Mister Barak faced a much different reaction at home.
He had lost his parliamentary majority before the Camp Dacid talks
Just over half the Israelis questioned by the Jerusalem Post newspaper
think he offered too much to the Palestinians.
Three-fourths of those questioned said he should call new elections
or bring the main opposition Likud party into the government.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators plan to meet Sunday at the border
between Israel and Gaza.
On Monday,the Israeli parliament is to vote on a measure to withdraw
support from Mister Barak's minority coalition.
President Arafat has urged Israelis to support their prime minister
