加沙唯一大钢琴10年来首次亮相演出

 Gaza's Only Grand Piano Makes Public Comeback

The only grand piano in the Palestinian territory of Gaza was played in public this week for the first time in 10 years.

Palestinian and Japanese musicians played the piano for 300 people at a November 25 performance at the Palestine Red Crescent Society. For many, it was the first time they had ever heard a piano performed live.

One Japanese pianist, Kaoru Imahigashi, said, “Playing this piano is feeling like playing history. It’s amazing. I felt the prayer of peace for many people.”

The Japanese government donated the piano about 20 years ago, following temporary peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

The piano was placed in a large theater at the al-Nawras resort in northern Gaza. A culture ministry¹ official explained that music events were a regular activity there before conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis began again in 2000.

In 2007, the Islamic militant² group Hamas took control of Gaza by force after winning legislative³ elections. Under Hamas rule, many forms of public entertainment were closed, including movie theaters and performance spaces. As a result, the al-Nawras resort closed its theater and swimming pool.

The resort closed permanently⁴ in January 2009. The piano sat unused until 2014. An Israeli airstrike that year destroyed the al-Nawras theater. The piano was found undamaged, but unplayable.

The Belgian nonprofit group Music Fund supports music education in the Palestinian areas. In 2015, the group sent a French expert to Gaza to repair the piano. Another expert traveled there in October to make final repairs on the instrument.

One the night of the performance, all 300 seats of the theater at the Palestine Red Crescent Society were filled. Fans of all ages listened intensely and applauded⁵ at the end of each performance.

It was the first time that 22-year-old Yasmin Elian had attended a piano concert. She said after the concert, “This encourages me to learn piano.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

applaud(ed) – v. to strike the hands together over and over to show approval or praise

resort – n. a place where people go for vacations

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 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。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 applauded   

v.鼓掌( applaud的过去式和过去分词 )；称赞，赞许

参考例句：

• The audience warmly applauded when the performance came to the end. 当演出接近尾声时，观众热烈鼓掌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The audience applauded after the soprano sang the aria so beautifully. 女高音将咏叹调唱得十分优美，观众爆发出热烈的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》