美国国家公共电台 NPR--U.S. and Arab countries aim to prevent Israeli-Palestinians tensions from escalating

U.S. and Arab countries aim to prevent Israeli-Palestinians tensions from escalating¹

Transcript²

For the second night in a row, Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque³ and clashed with Palestinians there — prompting rocket fire from Gaza. Religious tensions are fueling this violence.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The Jewish Passover began last night, and we are in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The overlap⁴ on the calendar matches the overlap on the ground in the old city of Jerusalem. Jewish and Muslim holy sites are built atop one another, and this week they are the scene of violence. Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Palestinians shot fireworks at police.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's Daniel Estrin joins us from Tel Aviv. Hey there, Daniel.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Steve. Good morning.

INSKEEP: What's been happening in that crowded space in the old City?

ESTRIN: Well, we've seen disturbing images come out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This is cellphone footage where you see Israeli police using batons⁶, and they've repeatedly beat Palestinians who are on the floor of the mosque. This is what it sounded like.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)

ESTRIN: So you have a woman there shouting, oh, God, oh, God. And meanwhile, Palestinians were shooting fireworks at police inside the mosque. The U.S. Embassy, top U.N. officials spoke⁷ out, said they were shocked and appalled⁸. And then Hamas and Gaza launched rockets toward Israel, and Israel retaliated⁹ with airstrikes on Gaza. None of that caused injuries. But all of that was two nights ago. And then last night, the Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque again. They appeared to be more restrained last night, but Palestinians still aimed fireworks at them. You saw these images of red and green sparks and smoke inside the mosque. And violence spread. There was an Israeli civilian¹⁰ who shot a young Palestinian in Jerusalem. There was more rocket fire out of Gaza. And there were protests by Palestinian citizens of Israel.

INSKEEP: Daniel, is there a connection between the holy times on the calendar that A mentioned and the unholy violence that you're describing?

ESTRIN: Oh, yeah. I mean, the context here is that fundamentalist Jewish activists¹¹ have been calling to slaughter¹² a goat on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. This was an ancient Passover tradition that took place thousands of years ago when the temple stood there. And so young Palestinians have stockpiled fireworks and rocks at the mosque, and they're, you know, trying to confront Jewish activists. And so then police stormed the mosque to break this up, and that's when you have video of all this mayhem spreading. And it prompts alarm in the region. Yesterday, the Arab League met.

INSKEEP: People where you are must be concerned about this getting even further out of control.

ESTRIN: Yeah, this is really turning into an international incident, where you have Egypt and Jordan and the U.S. all working behind the scenes calling for calm. The U.N. Security Council is meeting today. They're all trying to contain the violence, but it's really hard to tell if all these tensions can be contained. We have seen in recent years how violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque can ripple¹³ outwards¹⁴. And this year we have new combustible¹⁵ factors. Israel's far right is in power. They are hostile toward Palestinians. We've had a lot of West Bank violence in recent months. And we also have internal turmoil¹⁶ inside Israel over a controversial plan to overhaul¹⁷ the judiciary. That is adding to this sense of instability as well.

And so looking ahead in the coming days and in the coming week, we're going to see large numbers of Jews and Muslims gathering¹⁸ in Jerusalem for Passover and Ramadan. And you just see how fragile this situation is when any small act of violence gets caught on camera, and then it can quickly spread and provoke wider conflict.

INSKEEP: NPR's Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv in Israel. Daniel, glad you're there. Thanks for your insights.

ESTRIN: You're welcome, Steve.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 batons   

n.（警察武器）警棍( baton的名词复数 )；（乐队指挥用的）指挥棒；接力棒

参考例句：

• There were many riot policemen with batons. 有许多带警棍的防暴警察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chinese police fight? Number one is a person with batons to fight! 满街飘的中国国旗，是一个老华侨在事发时那出来分给大家的，很感动，真的，从来一向多一事不如少一事的中国人今天团结到一起站出来反抗。 来自互联网

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 retaliated   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• When he once teased her for her inexperience, she retaliated. 有一次，他讥讽她没有经验，她便反唇相讥。 来自辞典例句
• The terrorists retaliated by killing three policemen. 恐怖分子以杀死三名警察相报复。 来自辞典例句

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

13 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

14 outwards   

adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形

参考例句：

• Does this door open inwards or outwards?这门朝里开还是朝外开？
• In lapping up a fur,they always put the inner side outwards.卷毛皮时，他们总是让内层朝外。

15 combustible   

a. 易燃的,可燃的; n. 易燃物,可燃物

参考例句：

• Don't smoke near combustible materials. 别在易燃的材料附近吸烟。
• We mustn't take combustible goods aboard. 我们不可带易燃品上车。

16 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

17 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

18 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。