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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian grievances against Israel are familiar ones: hampering travel, blocking import of equipment, rampant racism, and the treatment of settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli response is also a repeat: security concerns, mostly.
约旦河西岸拉姆安拉──谁都知道巴勒斯坦人对以色列的不满有哪些：限制走动、禁止进口设备、猖獗的种族歧视，以及处理所占西岸定居区的方式。以色列的回应也是反复那么几句：多数时候是出于安保考量。
But this round of the conflict is all about the soccer pitch. The Palestinians have placed a proposal to suspend Israel from FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, on the agenda for the organization’s annual congress, in Zurich on May 29.
但这一回冲突在足球场上演。在世界足球管理机构国际足联(FIFA)于5月29日在苏黎世举办的年度会议中，巴勒斯坦人提案禁止以色列出赛。
It would be a severe sanction against Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, and one with wide resonance on both sides of the unofficial border, for unremitting devotion to soccer is something these bitter enemies deeply share. Intense lobbying campaigns are underway.
这将是对苛待巴勒斯坦人的以色列发起的一次严厉制裁，在非正式边境线的两侧都会引发广泛的反响，因为对足球的不懈热情，是苦战多年的双方共有的。游说活动已如火如荼地进行着。
“Soccer is a language that is known all over the world,” said Dima Yousef, 21, who plays midfield on the Palestinian national women’s team. “It’s easier for people to get connected with something that deals with soccer, versus a political point.”
“足球是全世界共通的语言”，巴勒斯坦国家女足队的21岁中场迪玛‧尤塞夫(Dima Yousef)说。“相较于政治观点，通过跟足球有关的事去联络彼此会更容易一些。”
It is, of course, as much about politics as sport, a novel arena in the Palestinians’ broader campaign to leverage membership in international institutions to punish Israel and build their sovereign state. Israel argues that soccer should be a bridge for coexistence, not a diplomatic weapon — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that “the thing that could destroy the football association is politicizing it.”
这不仅是运动上的角力，还关乎巴勒斯坦在更广泛层面上的行动，他们要利用在国际机构中的成员身份惩罚以色列，建起自己的主权国家，而足球也就成了其中的一个新战场。以色列则表示，足球是共存的桥梁，而非外交武器──以色列总理本雅明‧内塔尼亚胡(Benjamin Netanyahu)周二警告“政治化可能摧毁这个足球协会”。
Mr. Netanyahu’s statement came as he met with Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president, who on Tuesday set off on the well-trod path of shuttle diplomacy, promising to bring a message from the Israelis to his Wednesday session with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and other officials here in Ramallah.
内塔尼亚胡是在会见FIFA主席赛普‧布拉特(Sepp Blatter)后发出的声明。布拉特在周二开始了往返巴以之间的斡旋——一条他已经走过多次的路，他承诺周三在拉姆安拉会与巴勒斯坦民族权力机构(Palestinian Authority)主席马哈茂德·阿巴斯(Mahmoud Abbas)及其他官员会谈时，带来以色列人的讯息。
Mr. Blatter, whose four terms as FIFA’s chief have been marred by internal controversy, is trying to broker a compromise to avoid a contentious vote at the congress where a Jordanian prince is among those challenging his re-election. He declined to say what, if anything, the Israelis had offered as possible concessions or compromises, but said Mr. Netanyahu had accepted his invitation to host a “match of peace” between the Israeli and Palestinian national teams in Switzerland.
连续四届担任FIFA主席，却因内部争议染上污名的布拉特，试图促成双方的一次妥协，以挡下约旦王子等人在议会中挑战他连任的异议投票。他拒绝表示以色列是否为和解提供了任何可能的让步，但说内塔尼亚胡接受了他的邀请，在瑞士举办以色列与巴勒斯坦国家队的“和平比赛”。
“I am here on a mission of peace,” he said at an evening news conference in Jerusalem, where a FIFA emblem proclaiming “My game is fair play” sat on the dais. “This situation cannot continue.” Noting that “there are a lot of countries in the world where there is a political conflict,” Mr. Blatter added: “There is no end to this.”
“我为和平而来。”他在耶路撒冷的一场夜间记者会中表示， 讲台上摆着FIFA的“公平竞赛”标志。“这种情况不能继续下去。”“世界上有很多国家都有政治冲突”，布拉特还说：“这种冲突没有止境。”
A FIFA suspension would mean that Israel’s national team would be barred from international competitions including the World Cup and European championships, and that its professional clubs could not compete in lucrative competitions like Europe’s Championship League.
国际足联若禁止以色列出赛，就代表该国国家队无法参加包括世界杯与欧洲杯等国际赛事，该国的职业球队也无法参与欧洲杯冠军联赛等营利赛事。
FIFA has suspended members in the past, including apartheid-era South Africa and war-torn Yugoslavia, and last year UEFA, the European Union’s soccer organization, forced Russia to drop plans to incorporate Crimean teams claimed by Ukraine. FIFA has also prevented Gibraltar, a British territory long claimed by Spain, from joining.
FIFA过去有禁止国家参赛的先例，包括执行种族隔离的南非，以及因战争分裂的南斯拉夫。去年俄罗斯打算将乌克兰宣称拥有主权的克里米亚纳入其国内联赛，最后在欧盟足球组织欧洲足联(UEFA)施压下放弃了。FIFA还阻止了直布罗陀的加入，西班牙多年来一直宣称对这块英国领土拥有主权。
Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestine Football Association, cited these precedents in making his case. Israel, he said, has violated FIFA rules by allowing five teams from West Bank settlements to play in Israeli leagues even though they are in occupied Palestinian territory.
巴勒斯坦足协主席基博里·拉贾博(Jibril Rajoub)在陈述自己的理由是援引了以上的例子。他说，以色列允许来自约旦河西岸定居点的五支球队在以色列联赛中比赛，尽管他们位于巴勒斯坦控制地区，这一行为违反了国际足联的规定。
Players, coaches and referees are blocked from traveling between the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as in and out of the area for training and tournaments, Mr. Rajoub added, and fans of the notorious Beitar Jerusalem team routinely chant “Death to Arabs” at matches.
拉贾博还说，球队队员、教练和裁判都被禁止在约旦河西岸和加沙地带间往返，也不能为了训练和联赛进出这片区域，臭名昭著的比达耶路撒冷队的球迷总是在比赛中喊着“阿拉伯人去死”。
“The suspension is not the target; the target is to end the suffering, the grievances, of the Palestinian football family,” he told reporters at a briefing here in Ramallah on Tuesday. “We are not using violence, we are using a legal leverage tool, FIFA statutes,” he said. “They have to pay the price of their racist, apartheid policies against us.”
“禁赛并不是目的，目的是结束巴勒斯坦足球大家庭所遭受的苦难，”他周二在拉姆安拉的一场新闻发布会上告诉记者。“我们不使用暴力，我们在使用一个法律制衡工具，国际足联章程，”他说。“他们必须要为针对我们的种族主义、隔离政策付出代价。”
But Rotem Kemer, chief executive of the Israel Football Association, said that more than 95 percent of Palestinian requests for player movement had been approved so far this year, and that those rejected “probably had some background involving terrorism.”
但是以色列足协总干事特姆·基默(Rotem Kemer)称，今年至今有超过95%的巴勒斯坦球员出入境申请都被批准了，那些被拒绝的申请“可能有恐怖主义相关的背景。”
Mr. Kemer complained that he could not control Israel’s security protocol, and that his organization had unwillingly and inappropriately been turned into “some kind of foreign office” scrambling to head off a diplomatic crisis.
基默诉苦说以色列的安全程序不是他能控制的，他的组织还被迫地、不妥当地成为了“某种形式上的外交部”，手忙脚乱地要化解一场外交危机。
“We have found ourselves now as some kind of hostage in the fight against our government,” he told reporters in a conference call organized by the Israel Project, an advocacy group. “It’s nothing to do with sport, and they are trying to abuse the FIFA status and punish the I.F.A., which has nothing to do with this case.”
“我们发现自己在一场反对我们政府的战斗中成了某种人质，”他在一场由游说团体“以色列计划”(Israel Project)组织的电话会议上告诉记者。“这和体育没有关系，他们试图滥用国际足联章程来惩罚以色列足协，而以色列足协和这件事情没有任何关系。”
Israeli officials said that bad behavior like that of Beitar’s fans was rife among soccer fans worldwide, and that they had done more than other countries to crack down. They did not address the question of the settlement teams.
以色列官员称，类似比达耶路撒冷队球迷的恶劣行为，在全世界的足球迷中很常见，他们也比其他国家更加努力地打击这种行为。他们没有回答有关定居点球队的问题。
In recent days, a few leftist Israeli columnists have called on FIFA to “show Israel the red card,” as Gideon Levy of Haaretz put it. “A soccer ban doesn’t kill anyone,” Mr. Levy said. “When the price becomes intolerable, more and more Israelis will awaken from their indifference.”
近日，一些以色列左翼专栏作家向国际足联发出倡议，用吉迪恩·莱维(Gideon Levy)的话说，要“给以色列亮一张红牌。”“一个足球的禁令不会杀害任何人，”莱维说，“等到后果无可忍受时，会有越来越多的以色列人从冷漠中觉醒。”
Each of FIFA’s 209 members has a single vote in the congress, regardless of the size of the country or its soccer program, and Mr. Blatter said he had no power to veto decisions or remove items from the agenda. He said suspension required 75 percent approval, though the Palestinians plan to make a legal claim that a simple majority should suffice.
国际足联的209个成员，无论国家和它的足球项目的大小，都在大会中有一票的投票权，布拉特说，他没有否决和在议事日程中移除项目的权力。他说禁赛的决定需要75%的赞成票，不过巴勒斯坦人准备提出一项简单多数通过即可生效的法律要求。
Mr. Rajoub tried at the last two FIFA congresses to have sanctions placed on Israel, but Mr. Blatter and then a task force were instead charged with resolving the problems. Now, he said, “we will never, never accept any compromise,” promising to pursue the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport if the congress did not act.
拉贾博在最近两次国际足联大会上尝试通过对以色列的制裁，然而布拉特和当时的一个专门工作组受命解决这个问题。现在，他说，“我们绝对、绝对不会接受任何的和解，”如果大会不采取行动，他承诺会将此案提交到国际体育仲裁法庭(Court of Arbitration for Sport)寻求解决。
