評論
打印
Recognising Palestine
認可巴勒斯坦
A state of things to come
大波紛爭來襲
Britain votes to recognise a Palestinian state
英國投票承認巴勒斯坦國
What would Arthur Balfour say?
阿瑟·貝爾福將會說什么？
IN HIS declaration of 1917 giving Britain's backing for the creation of a Jewish homeland, Arthur Balfour, the then foreign secretary, undertook to uphold the civil and religious rights of the native population of Palestine. A century later after less than total success, Britain's Parliament added national rights as well. On October 13th it voted by 274 votes to 12 to recognise a Palestinian state.
1917年，當時的外交大臣阿瑟·貝爾福發表了宣言，代表英國支持巴勒斯坦地區人民的公民權利與宗教權利。一個世紀后，此舉雖未完全成功，但在此基礎上也支持巴勒斯坦作為一個國家的權利也被納入英國議會當中。10月13日，英國議會以274票對12票的投票結果，承認巴勒斯坦國。
On the face of it, the backbench vote will have little impact. It is not binding, sets no deadline for recognition and will not change government policy, says David Cameron, the Conservative prime minister. Over half of MPs abstained.
在投票結果面前，后座議員的票數幾乎沒什么影響。此結果不具有約束力，不設期限的認可，也不會改變政府的政策，保守黨首相卡梅倫如是說。而超過半數的國會議員都投了棄權票。
But as a barometer of European sentiment, the vote is telling. Since last summer's Gaza war and recent appropriations of Palestinian land, even Israel's allies have found its actions hard to stomach. “If it is losing people like me, it is going to be losing a lot of people,” said Richard Ottaway, the pro-Israel chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs committee.
但是，作為歐洲態度的晴雨表，投票結果是最說明問題的。去年夏天的加沙戰爭和最近對巴勒斯坦土地的撥款，這些甚至讓以色列的盟友們都覺得這些舉動無法容忍。“如果連我這樣的人都不能容忍，那么此舉還會失去更多的民心。”議會外交事務委員會主席、親以色列的理查德·奧特維如是說。
To downplay the significance of the vote, Mr Cameron abstained. Yet this might also reflect growing ambivalence towards Israel, some claimed. After siding with Israel early in the Gaza war, Mr Cameron denounced Israel's post-war landgrab as “utterly deplorable”.
為了淡化投票的重要性，卡梅倫投了棄權票。當然，這也可能是反映了卡梅倫對以色列日益增長的矛盾心理------在加沙戰爭早期，英國與以色列同仇敵愾，而在此之后卡梅倫指責以色列戰后侵占土地，并稱其是“完全可悲”。
That growing concern has had little discernible impact on relations. Bilateral trade has risen 28% year-on-year. And Israel can be thick-skinned about how the world views it. “There's a bit of a tendency to write off Europeans as Nazi-hugging anti-semites,” says a Western diplomat in Tel Aviv. But the vote may encourage others in Europe to do more than just urge the parties to end Israel's occupations by negotiation, as they have for 23 years. Earlier this month, Sweden's new prime minister, Stefan Lofven, said his country, too, would recognise a Palestinian state. And when the issue of Palestinian UN membership next comes to the Security Council, as it may soon, the parliamentary vote might make it a bit harder for Britain to oppose it.
日益增長的關注度對英以雙方的關系影響并不明顯。英以雙邊貿易額相比去年同期上漲28%。并且對于世界如何看待自己的問題上，以色列完全就是死豬不怕開水燙。“目前歐洲人有緊擁納粹反猶主義的傾向，而這將毀掉歐洲人，”特拉維夫的一位西方外交官說道。但是投票或許會鼓勵歐洲的其他各方做出更多表示，而不是像之前的23年那樣僅僅談判敦促以色列結束對有關地區的占領。本月早些時候，瑞典新首相斯特凡·洛文夫表示，瑞典也將承認巴勒斯坦國。當巴勒斯坦加入聯合國并進入安全理事會的時候，對于英國來說，再想投反對票就不是一件容易事兒了。翻譯 周曉婷 校對 王穎
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