VOA慢速英语 2007 0623

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. 
A Hamas militant¹ holds up a Hamas flag on a watch tower of the Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City. Hamas captured the compound from Fatah forces.

For a week now, Palestinians have had to deal with a new political reality. Their territories are now split between control by Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. About one and one-half million people live in Gaza; more than two million live in the West Bank.

Hamas forces took control of Gaza last week in the worst conflict ever between Palestinians. In just a few days the Islamic militants² of Hamas defeated the security forces of Fatah.

Fatah is the party of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria. It was created with an aim of destroying Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis.

So where does all this leave efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks? The goal is to create an independent Palestine from the territories next to Israel. President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet Monday in Egypt to discuss the situation. They last met in April.

Mister Olmert says he hopes that serious negotiations³ about a Palestinian state will be able to start soon.

 
Mahmoud Abbas leads Fatah
President Abbas has moved quickly to dismiss a Hamas-led unity⁴ government and establish an emergency government. The new cabinet, sworn in Sunday, is made up of independents and close allies of Fatah. The prime minister is Salam Fayyad, an international economist⁵.

Mister Abbas has received support for his new government from the Arab League as well as the European Union and the United States. President Bush called the Palestinian president "a reasonable voice amongst the extremists" in that area of the world.

The United States and the European Union announced this week that they will restart financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. The aid was suspended for more than a year because the Hamas-led government refused to recognize Israel's right to exist.

Western governments are also offering more money for United Nations humanitarian⁶ efforts in Gaza. But some people fear a humanitarian crisis. There are also concerns that a complete boycott⁷ of Hamas could turn Gaza into a base for international terrorism. 

Israel, the United States and the European Union have declared Hamas a terrorist organization. Yet dissatisfaction with Fatah leaders and what was seen as abuse of power and corruption⁸ helped bring Hamas to power.

Hamas began its rise to popularity in the late nineteen eighties, during the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Hamas established social services for Palestinians. Following the Oslo peace agreements in the early nineties, it launched a campaign of suicide bombings against Israel.

Two years ago Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza. Then, early last year, Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections. The victory led to fighting between Hamas and Fatah. And that led to the unity government which took office three months ago.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。