Vocabulary

1.Palestinian state 巴勒斯坦国

2.more than ever 相比过去的任何时候...

More than ever, land for peace also means land for democracy.

3.encircle the airport 包围机场

THE victory of Israel over the Arab armies that encircled it in 1967 was so swift and absolute that, many Jews thought, the divine hand must have tipped the scales.

tip the scales 起决定性作用

4.regard death as an act of providence认为死乃天意

Before the six-day war Israel had feared another Holocaust; thereafter it became an empire of sorts. Awestruck, the Jews took the holy sites of Jerusalem and the places of their  biblical stories. But the land came with many Palestinians whom Israel could neither expel nor absorb. Was Providence smiling on Israel, or testing it?

fear a Holocaust 惧怕灾难  a nuclear holocaust 核灾难

an awestruck person 令人敬畏的人

something of sorts: an inferior example of a kind of something.

eg.Well, it's a solution of sorts, I suppose./ It was a novel of sorts, but not what I'd ever have chosen.

fashion an empire of sorts创建了一个所谓的帝国

5.plant Jewish settlements on sw 开辟基督教徒聚居区

For the past 50 years, Israel has tried to have it both ways: taking the land by planting Jewish settlements on it; and keeping the Palestinians unenfranchised under military occupation, denied either their own state or political equality within Israel.

keep sb unenfranchised 剥夺某人的选举权

6.a reproach to... ...的耻辱

Yet their dispossession is a reproach to Israel, which is by far the stronger party  and claims to be a model democracy.

dispossession and displacement: 土地剥夺和家园丧失

7.endure for half a century持续了50年

Israel’s “temporary” occupation has endured for half a century.

8.head of interim government过渡政府首脑

The peace process that created “interim” Palestinian autonomy, due to last just five years before a final deal, has dragged on for more than 20.

strike/reach a final deal: 达成最终协议

drag on for 20  拖了20年

9. sth is long overdue  ...姗姗来迟

A Palestinian state is long overdue.

10.the foremost champion of 最大的支持者

Rather than resist it, Israel should be the foremost champion of the  future Palestine that will be its neighbour.

11.make peace 讲和

Unexpectedly, there maybe a new opportunity to make peace: Donald Trump wants to secure “the ultimate deal” and is due to visit the Holy Land on May 22nd, during his first foreign trip.

12.give an upbeat assessment of the war给予战事乐观的评价

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, appears as nervous as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, seems upbeat.

13.hold off 推迟...

Mr Trump has, rightly, urged Israel to curb settlement-building . Israel wants him to keep his promise to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. He should hold off until he is ready to go really big: recognise Palestine at the same time and open a second embassy in Jerusalem to talk to it.

curb settlement-building 抑制定居点扩张

go big: meaning to do any activity, especially extreme sports and drug usage, to the highest level possible.做到极致

recognize Palestine 认同巴勒斯坦

14.born from...源于；诞生于

Palestinians would accept the Jewish state born from the war of1947-48 (made up of about three-quarters of the British mandate of Palestine).

the British mandate of Palestine 英属巴勒斯坦托管地

15.string out the process推迟行动

Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas will probably string out the process—and try to ensure the other gets blamed for failure.

get/be blamed for failure 因失败而受指责

16.the limbo of semi-war and semi-peace 半战半和的不确定状态

The limbo of semi-war and semi-peace is, sadly, a tolerable option for both.

17.the second half of... ...的后半部分

Nevertheless, the creation of a Palestinian state is the second half of the world’s promise, still unredeemed, to split British-era Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.

18.sinai peninsula 西奈半岛/ˈsainai/

Since the six-day war, Israel has been willing to swap land for peace, notably when it returned Sinai to Egypt in 1982.

swap A for B 以A换B

19.lie at the heart of 是...的核心问题

But the conquests of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were different. They  lie at the heart of Israelis’ and Palestinians’ rival histories, and add the intransigence of religion to a nationalist conflict.

the West Bank 约旦河西岸

the Gaza Strip 加沙地带

rival history 敌对史(A history is an account of events that have happened in the past.)

the intransigence of religion 宗教信仰的不妥协

20.the Zionist movement.犹太复国运动

Early Zionist leaders accepted partition grudgingly; Arab ones tragically rejected it outright. In 1988 the Palestine Liberation Organisation accepted a state on part of the land, but Israeli leaders resisted the idea until 2000.

accept grudgingly不情愿的接受

reject outright 全盘否定

the Palestine Liberation Organisation巴勒斯坦解放组织

21.the failure to do..没做到

Another reason for the failure to get two states is violence.

22.set out to do着手做..

Extremists on both sides set out to destroy the Oslo accords of 1993, the first step to a deal. The Palestinian uprising in 2000-05 was searing. Wars after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005 made everything worse.

the Oslo accords 奥斯陆协议(Oslo is the capital of Norway)

searing uprising 空前的动乱

23.be in no rush to do..不急于做

Most Israelis are in no rush to try offering land for peace again. Their security has improved, the economy is booming and Arab states are courting Israel for intelligence on terrorists and an alliance against Iran. The Palestinians are weak and divided, and might not be able to make a deal.

offer land for peace 以土地换和平

intelligence on terrorist恐怖分子的情报

court sb 讨好某人

make a deal 达成协议；成交

24.erode one's standing 降低..的声望

Yet the never-ending subjugation of Palestinians will erode Israel’s standing abroad and damage its democracy at home.

domination and subjugation, aggression and plunder of other countries

对其他国家的统治，征服，侵略和掠夺

25.turn toward ethno-religious chauvinism 变得民族宗教沙文主义/'ʃəʊv(ɪ)nɪz(ə)m/

Its politics are turning towards ethno-religious chauvinism, seeking to marginalise Arabs and Jewish leftists, including human rights groups. The  government objected even to a novel about a Jewish-Arab love affair.

marginalise leftists 排斥左派人士（socialists and communists）

Chauvinism is a strong, unreasonable belief that your own country is more important and morally better than other people's.

object to 反对

a Jewish-Arab love affair 犹太人和阿拉伯人的恋爱故事

26.prevent a slide to rasicm or even apartheid

防止陷入种族主义甚至是种族隔离主义的泥淖

As Israel grows wealthier , the immiseration of Palestinians becomes more disturbing. Its predicament grows more acute as the number of Palestinians between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean catches up with that of Jews. Israel cannot hold on to all of the “Land of Israel”, keep its predominantly Jewish identity and remain a proper democracy. To save democracy, and prevent a slide to racism or even apartheid, it has to give up the occupied lands.

the immiseration of sb 贫困的...

predicament grows more acute境况变得愈发糟糕(predicament困境)

leave sb in a peculiar predicament 使某人出于尴尬的境地

prevent a slide to rasicm or even aparthied防止陷入种族主义甚至是种族隔离主义的泥淖

27.collaborate&cooperate

When collaborating, people work together (co-labor) on a single shared goal.

When cooperating, people perform together (co-operate) while working on selfish yet common goals.

28.security barrier安全屏障

It should let the PA expand beyond its ink-spots. Israel should voluntarily halt all settlements, at least beyond its security barrier.