voa标准英语2008-Moderates in Middle East May Suffer if Israeli-H

Israeli warplanes continue to hit suspected Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Palestinian militants² are keeping up their rocket and mortar³ attacks on Israeli border communities.
　

Smoke rises following an Israeli missile strike in northern Gaza, 30 Dec 2008

The violence erupted after a six-month Hamas-Israeli ceasefire expired on December 19. The Palestinian militant¹ group stepped up its shelling of Israeli communities, prompting the massive Israeli response.

Many analysts⁴ say this is the biggest military offensive against Gaza since Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel's Defense⁵ Minister, Ehud Barak, said the country is currently engaged in an all-out conflict against Hamas.

David Aaron, Director of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy, said that rhetoric⁶ is all too familiar.

"They [the Israelis] made a basic strategic decision to sort of end it once and for all. Well, unfortunately, we've heard that story before in their invasion of Lebanon [in 2006], which did not eradicate⁷ Hezbollah. But it has stopped Hezbollah from carrying out attacks against northern Israel," he said.

The militant group Hamas has been in control of the Gaza Strip since June 2007, after it defeated forces loyal to the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The United States considers Hamas to be a terrorist group and has accused it of starting this latest round of violence.

Fawaz Gerges is a Middle East expert at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Speaking from Tripoli, Lebanon, he said the strong Israeli response has radicalized Arab public opinion in the region.
　

Jordanian demonstrators hold a Palestinian flag during a protest near the Israeli embassy in Amman, 30 Dec 2008

"And it seems to me that the longer the crisis continues, the more radicalized Arab public opinion will likely become. There is no military solution for an essentially⁸ political crisis. Regardless of what one thinks of Hamas, the way that Israel has acted in the last few days is playing into Hamas' hands. The military escalation⁹ and the extent and the horrendous¹⁰ casualties on the Palestinian side are playing directly into Hamas' hands. They are weakening the moderate forces in the Arab world, particularly America's allies - Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia - and basically supplying ammunition¹¹ to the so-called resistance front, particularly Iran and Syria and Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon," argued Gerges.

David Aaron from RAND agreed, saying the crisis puts U.S. allies in the region in a difficult situation.

"It puts them more on the spot because we have given them no coverage¹². If we had decided¹³ to simply call for a ceasefire and stoppage of violence and all the rest, that would have given them some cover. But we didn't. We said, 'This is the fault of Hamas.' Even if that's true, it certainly is not perceived that way in those countries. And so their governments are going to be the target of increased criticism on the part of their people for collaborating¹⁴ with us," he said.

Aaron also said the United States and its allies should be concerned about what may happen on the West Bank. Will there be another intifada, an armed Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule?

Many experts, including Aaron, said the latest conflict was in part due to the Bush administration's Middle East policy.
　

Israel's PM Ehud Olmert (l) and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Jerusalem, (file photo)

"I think it was a complete failure. It didn't do anything, frankly¹⁵. We did finally get some conversation between [Mahmoud] Abbas and [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert. But then nobody knows where that was going and we see this conflict arising now. And it's hard for me to believe that that's going to strengthen the hand of those who want a dialogue with the Palestinians," he said.

The Bush administration says it has been consistently engaged in trying to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.

Fawaz Gerges said one way to come closer to a political solution is to include Hamas in the process. But that, he said, will come about only if there is a different mindset.

"A mindset that says Hamas is not a monolith, that yes, Hamas engages in terrorism, Hamas carries out certain terrorist actions, but Hamas is not just a huge monolith. There are multiple points of view and narratives¹⁶ within Hamas. And political engagement, I would argue, will likely strengthen the moderate elements not only within the region, but also within the Palestinian territories. In fact, I would argue, that a year from now, Hamas will likely remain as strong if not stronger - particularly if Israel and the United States insist on exclusion¹⁷ and on basically pursuing the military option, which basically will not really produce a breakthrough for this essentially political crisis in the region," he said.

Fawaz Gerges and David Aaron said a lot may change between now and January 20 when Barack Obama is officially sworn in as the new U.S. President. But they said one thing is clear - the current conflict proves that finding a political solution to the Middle East crisis should be the first item on President Obama's foreign policy agenda.

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 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 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。

6 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

7 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

10 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

11 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 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。

14 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

15 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

16 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

17 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。