2007年VOA标准英语-Palestinian Split Raises Questions About a Two-

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
18 June 2007

Palestinians are grappling this week with a new political reality - the Palestinian territories are now effectively split between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from our Jerusalem bureau the split is likely to fundamentally change how Israel, western donor¹ nations and Israel's neighbors such as Egypt deal with the Palestinians.

Palestinian security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah fraction, take their positions at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, 18 Jun 2007

It was the worst violence ever between Palestinians. Many called it a civil-war, but it was over quickly. In just a few days the Islamic militants² of Hamas routed their more secular³ Fatah opponents, and became the de-facto rulers of more than 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Ali Jarbawi, who teaches Political Science at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank city of Ramallah, says the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip opened new wounds for bitterly divided Palestinians that will take a long time to heal.

"I do not think reconciliation⁴ is going to take place soon," he said. "It needs time. It is going to need weeks and probably months to come. The de-facto situation is that we have two governments; one in Gaza, and one in the West Bank."

Yossi Alpher, an Israeli who edits Bitterlemons.org, a web periodical that addresses conflict-resolution issues in the region, describes the Hamas takeover in Gaza as a revolution, and he says the effects will be felt for years to come.

Alpher says for Israelis the Hamas victory is unsettling, but Israel is not the only country that needs to be worried by a strengthened Hamas.

"To the extent that the Egyptians now recognize the dangers of a Hamastan, if you like. A Muslim Brotherhood⁵ mini-state on their border with Gaza. To the extent the Egyptians recognize these dangers and now begin to take more resolute⁶ steps to seal the border and prevent weaponry from entering Gaza, and prevent Hamas fighters from leaving in order to be trained in Iran," he said. "There will be a strong sentiment in Israel to avoid any real heavy military action that could mean re-occupation of part or all of the Gaza Strip."

Alpher says above all, Israel wants to avoid a humanitarian⁷ disaster in Gaza, and that could lead to some sort of an accommodation between Israel and Hamas, even though Israel considers the group a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of hundreds of its citizens.

"From the Israeli standpoint it is clear that from Prime Minister Olmert down through the IDF [Israeli Defense⁸ Forces] there is recognition of the danger of a humanitarian crisis and a determination to prevent it," said Alpher. "But to what extent we will be able to, or wish to work with Hamas, is an open question. It seems to me that if Hamas does go pragmatic and maintain an effective cease-fire there will open avenues of interaction between Hamas and Israel, at least on the day-to-day pragmatic issues."

Meanwhile, Israel and western donor nations like the United States are offering support to President Mahmoud Abbas, who has quickly moved to establish a new government led by Salam Fayyad, a respected international banker.

Israel says it will likely release Palestinian customs and tax revenue it has been holding to Mr. Abbas, and U.S. officials say they will restore donor aid to the Palestinians. 

Ali Jarbawi of Bir Zeit University says the aid will help Mr. Abbas restore his authority, but he has to remember he is the President of all Palestinians, and not just those in the West Bank.

"The danger is not in taking international assistance but to direct this assistance to the West Bank and to keep Gaza under severe embargo⁹; to punish Hamas basically," said Jarbawi. "If that happens it might be counterproductive. He is the president of all Palestinians, of the West Bank and Gaza, and this division, if it happens, and it might actually happen, that the assistance might reach the West bank other than Gaza, then it is extremely dangerous especially if we want to reunite the West Bank and Gaza once again."

Jarbawi also says Mr. Abbas must offer his people more than simply economic assistance if he wants to be able to claim legitimacy¹⁰ as a leader of all Palestinians.

"Abbas is in need of empowerment. However, this should not only be financial empowerment, economic empowerment. He needs to be politically empowered. He needs to have a political horizon. He should tell his people he has something to offer; an end to the occupation at one point in time and the creation of a Palestinian state. If he does not have that and has all the money in the world in the world, it will not work," said Jarbawi.

Ali Jarbawi says Mr. Abbas will need the cooperation of Israel, who he says should share the blame for the current divide among Palestinians for its policies of isolating¹¹ the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. Israel, Jarbawi says, has ignored President Abbas for years, undercutting his authority and undermining the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Yossi Alpher says the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip is not a welcome development when it comes to peace efforts in the Middle East, but it should not be seen as an end to that process.

"Obviously the developments last week in Gaza are a blow to the two-state solution. Indeed the two-state solution has suffered heavy blows in the course of the last six or seven years," he said. "But, things are so unpredictable in the Middle East in general, and in our conflict in particular that you really never know. Sometimes very surprising things can happen to reinstate previously¹² discredited¹³ solutions."

Yossi Alpher says for years Israeli leaders discussed amongst themselves the idea of working to build up the West Bank as a model of economic development, as a way of diminishing the influence of Hamas. That never happened, but now with Hamas in control in Gaza, Alpher says Israel and western donor nations should move quickly to ease tensions and boost economic development in the West Bank, to show Palestinians that there is an alternative to Hamas.

1 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

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 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

4 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

5 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

6 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

7 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。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

12 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

13 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。