每日英语听力

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09/18/18

Relations between the Trump administration and Palestinian officials continue to deteriorate. A Palestinian official says the U. S. has revoked the visas of a Palestinian envoy's family in Washington, D. C.

This is just the latest point of friction after the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians. NPR's Daniel Estrin is with us now from Jerusalem with an update. Daniel, thanks so much for joining us.

My pleasure. First of all, would you just tell us about this latest dispute, if we can call it that? The revocation of visas, what's that all about?

Yeah. Well, last week, the Trump administration ordered the Palestinians' diplomatic office in Washington to close, and that's supposed to happen by next month.

And the State Department says that is because the Palestinians are not engaging with Trump's peace team that's trying to broker a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

And, indeed, the Palestinian Authority did cut ties with the administration. That happened when the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The Palestinians also wanted to establish their own capital in Jerusalem. And they say, the U. S. is undercutting one of our biggest demands and can't be a fair mediator in this conflict.

So the Palestinian envoy to Washington returned back to the Palestinian territories. And now, a Palestinian official says the U. S. is even revoking the envoy's wife and 5 and 7-year-old kids' visas.

They had to leave their schools in Washington and leave the country, and the Palestinians are saying the U. S. is being spiteful. What have you heard from the State Department about this?

The State Department says it does not discuss individual visa cases. And what about the U. S. funding cuts to the Palestinians? Can you tell us a bit more about that?

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