2007年VOA标准英语-Israel Compensates Holocaust Survivors Ending B

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
20 August 2007

The Israeli government has reached a compensation deal with Holocaust¹ survivors² ending a bitter feud³. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, many survivors of the Nazi⁴ genocide during World War II have also suffered from financial difficulties.

Holocaust survivors leave the Knesset, Israel's parliament, after a recent agreement between the government and the survivors, in Jerusalem, 20 Aug 2007

The Israeli government is granting Holocaust survivors an additional monthly stipend⁵ of nearly $300. The agreement came after embarrassing revelations that one third of the 240,000 survivors in Israel are living in poverty.

"My aim is to get all the Holocaust survivors above the poverty line and make sure that they live in decency," said Israeli Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog.

The agreement ends months of wrangling⁶ between elderly survivors and the government. The survivors said the State of Israel, which was supposed to be a refuge for Jews who escaped the Holocaust, was guilty of neglect.

"There are thousands, tens [of] thousands, hundreds [of] thousands that remain poor," said Shmuel Reinish of the Holocaust Survivors Welfare Fund. "So that's a thing that cannot go on any more."

At first, the government offered an additional $20 a month, but that made matters worse because the offer was considered too small. Angry survivors marched through the streets in protest, carrying signs saying, "Sorry we survived."

Reinish said the $20 offer was an insult.

"We decided⁷ that the government crossed all the red lines," he said.

Herzog, the welfare minister, denied rejects that argument.

"One should not perceive the state of Israel as kind of alienating⁸ itself from the Holocaust survivors because it's absolutely, unequivocally not true," he said.

But with the new compensation package, both sides are mending fences. Noah Flug, who heads the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors, welcomed the agreement.

"I hope that people who have been in concentration camps, in ghettos, that they can live in dignity," said Flug.

Finally, he said, the State of Israel is taking responsibility.

1 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

4 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

5 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

6 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网