VOA标准英语2009年-Memories of Exiled Palestinians Nearly Era

By Luis Ramirez
Dalton, Israel
30 September 2009

During the Israeli war of independence, thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their villages in what is today the state of Israel. In the shadows of the ruins of the Arab villages, Jewish immigrants have created a new nation, and built new lives free from persecution¹. Our correspondent visited the site of what used to be the Arab village of Taitaba in the northern Galilee, and has the story of one Jewish family that has found the Promised Land in the midst of the ruins.

 
Hamisa (l) and Galia Shalom 
Hamisa Shalom and his wife Galia look at old pictures and reminisce of their native Libya.
 
But there are no good memories, only those of fear and persecution in a land dominated by Arab Muslims. She remembers how a mob rounded up hers and other Jewish families, took them to a mosque², and threatened to kill them if they did not declare their conversion³ to Islam.

Galia describes how she, as a child, witnessed the systematic⁴ rape⁵ of Jewish women and girls by Muslim soldiers who were assigned to protect them.

"Sudanese soldiers went into the houses of the Jews, they started taking the girls and the married women who had children, one by one, put them in the kitchen and raped⁶ them, three or four soldiers at a time," said Galia Shalom.

At the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the Shaloms were offered passage to a safe haven⁷ in the former Palestine.

Over six decades, they have worked hard, started a farm, reared 11 children, and built a life from scratch right here on the soil of a land they, as Jews, believe was promised by God to the Hebrew people. For Galia Shalom, God has delivered.

"It was a dream," she said. "It was a dream because we came to the land of Israel. At the time, when I was a little girl, even before the [anti-Jewish] riots, I used to raise my eyes to the sky and would say: I wish I could get to Jerusalem and die there."

That dream has been built on land that until six decades ago was home to Arabs.

These are the remains⁸ of the nearby Arab village of Taitaba, dynamited⁹ after its residents fled advancing Jewish fighters in 1948.

Taitaba's Arab families are gone, but these stones shout the memories of those who lived here.

 
An Arab neighbor among the olive groves¹⁰ of Taitaba
This Arab neighbor recalls when Taitaba and its olive groves were flourishing.
 
This olive tree, he says, is a witness. Overcome with emotion, his words become poetry.

"They thought that by letting your branches dry, we would forget you," he said. "No, I will come back, and I will tend to you and care for you. I will remove the dry stalks, so they can grow back and you can again thrive."
 
But a return to Taitaba - and the many other destroyed Arab villages - may never happen.

The Shaloms say they pray for peace, just as they prayed for the right to one day return to freedom in the land of Israel, from where their ancestors fled 2,000 years ago.

"No, no matter how much hardship, being here has meant happiness for us," she said. "This is our homeland, this is our place and we will not move. We do not have another country."

Like the Arab families who were displaced 60 years ago, the Shaloms, too, hope to die free in a land they consider a birthright for them and their future generations.

1 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

4 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 dynamited   

v.（尤指用于采矿的）甘油炸药( dynamite的过去式和过去分词 )；会引起轰动的人[事物]

参考例句：

• Saboteurs dynamited the bridge. 破坏者炸毁了桥梁。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Saboteurs dynamited the dam. 破坏者炸毁了堤坝。 来自互联网

10 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。