2006年VOA标准英语-Palestinian Police Storm Parliament Over Unpaid

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
09 December 2006

There have been violent protests in the Gaza Strip and West Bank against the Palestinian government led by the Islamic militant¹ group Hamas. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, it is the latest episode in a deepening power struggle between rival Palestinian factions³.

Legislative4 Council building, during a protest to demand their salaries from the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority in Gaza City" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070511/1553390.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

A Palestinian police officer fires into the air after he and others stormed the Legislative Council building, during a protest to demand their salaries from the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority in Gaza City

About 2,000 Palestinian policemen, some firing in the air, stormed into the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City in protest over unpaid⁵ salaries.

The cash-strapped Hamas government has not fully⁶ paid the salaries of 165,000 government employees since it took power eight months ago. That includes 80,000 police, most of whom belong to the rival and more moderate Fatah faction². Fatah accuses Hamas of paying its own private militia⁷, while neglecting members of the regular security forces.

Hamas is broke in the wake of international sanctions, imposed because of its refusal to recognize Israel and renounce⁸ violence.

Palestinian analyst⁹ Wadia Abu Nasser says Hamas is losing support.

"Hamas now is losing a lot of credit in the Palestinian street, because many people were disappointed that Hamas came with a lot of promises," he said.  "They claimed that they will help the Palestinians going out of [to go out of] their economic crisis, but they helped mainly themselves."

Hamas is trying to bypass Western sanctions through donations from the Arab world, and, especially, Iran. Iran has already paid $120 million to the Hamas government, and officials say they expect a pledge of an addition $30 million a month.

But Abu Nasser says that does not solve the problem.

"The Iranian money that came didn't help all Palestinians," he added.  "It helped mainly the Hamas-affiliated activists¹⁰, and these are tiny minorities of the Palestinian society."

Palestinian police also held protest marches in the West Bank town of Jenin. And in Hebron, dozens of parents broke into a clinic closed down by a health workers' strike, demanding vaccinations¹¹ for their babies.

Hamas officials accused moderate Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas of orchestrating the protests in a bid to topple the elected government.

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 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

3 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

4 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。

5 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

8 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 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》

11 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》