2006年VOA标准英语-Support for Hezbollah Increasing Among South Le

By Challiss McDonough
Tyre
28 July 2006
 
As Israel's military offensive in Lebanon continues for a third week, the death toll¹ on both sides of the border is climbing. There has been intense fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli troops, and Israeli airstrikes have continued to flatten² the towns and villages of southern Lebanon. Israel has never claimed to be fighting for hearts and minds, but besieged³ Lebanese southerners say Israel's tactics will only increase support for Hezbollah. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough reports from Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre, 25 kilometers from the border.

--------

Day and night, aerial reconnaissance drones buzz in the sky over Tyre, scouting⁴ targets, frequently heard but seldom seen. There is a constant drumbeat of distant explosions as Israeli shells pound nearby villages. Every day, more refugees from the south arrive in Tyre, on their way further north to safety.

A Lebanese man uses a pillow to extinguish a small fire after an Israeli missile strike
   
  
The Lebanese government estimates that at least 750,000 people have been forced from their homes, more than a quarter of the country's population. The death toll in Lebanon is well over 400, almost entirely⁵ civilians⁷.

Israeli political and military leaders say their aim is to render Hezbollah incapable⁸ of attacking Israel anymore, to chase the militant⁹ group away from the border. But the military campaign has proven to be much tougher than Israel anticipated, and Hezbollah a much more capable adversary¹⁰ than they realized.

Despite the massive Israeli firepower focused on southern Lebanon over the past two-and-a-half weeks, Hezbollah's rocket attacks on northern Israeli have continued, including on the third-largest city of Haifa.

 
Hassan Nasrallah  
  
Israeli planes have also dropped leaflets over the south, with cartoon characters and Arabic captions¹¹, trying to convince residents that the person to blame for the entire crisis is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The caricatures depict¹² him as a snake, or as someone holding the Lebanese people hostage.

But many residents of south Lebanon say the military campaign is strengthening support for Hezbollah, not weakening it.

Waiting in line to buy his daily ration¹³ of bread, Tyre resident Jameel Bilal says bombing villages, attacking civilian⁶ vehicles and demolishing¹⁴ Lebanon's infrastructure¹⁵ will backfire.

"The Israelis think that with these tactics they're able to force the populations here to submit to the will of Israel," he said. "But on the contrary, what they're doing is inspiring resistance. This is inspiring young children and grown ups.'"

   
  
Here in the south, Hezbollah is not just a militant group, it is a political party with deep roots in the community. It provides social services, such as schools and clinics. Together with the Shi'ite Amal party, it is the de facto authority here.

And so it is no surprise that support for what locals call "the resistance" is strong. An elderly woman named Husna expressed a common view as she described the conditions her family is living under.

"The situation is non-existent for us," she said. "We are living in the bunkers, taking cover. We have no food." Then she says, "We are with Nasrallah, and we are with the resistance, even if it means total destruction."

At a local vegetable market, a man who did not give his name said he thinks Israel is trying to turn Lebanese people against each other.

"And this war, this war is not dividing us," he said. "It's actually quite the contrary, it's uniting us against Israeli terror, against Israel's barbaric actions. When this happens to us, it unites us, it doesn't divide us."

And to a degree, that is true. Shiite refugees from the south are sheltering in Christian¹⁷, Sunni and Druze villages to the north. This outpouring of support for their plight¹⁸ has been a remarkable¹⁹ show of cross-sectarian unity¹⁶ in a country that fought a 15-year civil war along religious fault lines.

It is difficult to find anyone in the south who is willing to publicly express criticism of Hezbollah. That may partly be because some residents are afraid to speak out against the group, fearing repercussions²⁰, but it is also due to Hezbollah's genuine popularity here.

What can be felt, palpably, is exhaustion²¹, fear and a true longing²² for peace.

The same man in the marketplace had this to say, after overhearing others vowing²³ to fight the Israeli offensive even if it kills every last Lebanese:

"Come on, let's be rational here in the market, let's be reasonable," he said. "There are some things that should be said, and other things that just don't make sense. We need peace. We want to live in peace. We want Muslims, Shiites, Sunnis, Druze, Christians²⁴ to all live in peace. We don't want aggression²⁵. We don't want to be aggressed against. We don't want to aggress against anyone."

Lebanese soldier retrieves²⁶ suitcase with belongings²⁷ from  rubble²⁸ of destroyed building in outskirts²⁹ of Tyre, July 26, 2006
   
  
A Lebanese-American man, Ali Chahine, stopped in Tyre overnight on his way to Cyprus after being trapped for two weeks in the besieged border city of Yaroun. He came away from that traumatic experience fervently³⁰ wishing for a cease-fire, for at least long enough to get other civilians out of harm's way.

"Through war, they're not going to accomplish anything, either Israel or the people of Lebanon, the Hezbollah," he said. "Only through negotiation³¹. And I will say for both parties, just to save and minimize the casualties among civilians, it's time to throw away the guns and discuss that problem like a human being through the United Nations or whatever international body, so they can stop that massacre³² there."

But international talks aimed at brokering³³ a solution have failed so far, and there is little sign of progress in convincing either side to abandon its fight. Israel has called up 30,000 reserve troops to face two fronts, in Gaza and in Lebanon.

On Friday, the United Nations announced that it is withdrawing its troops from the border, just days after an Israeli attack on a U.N. border post killed four unarmed U.N. observers.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

3 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

4 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

9 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。

10 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

11 captions   

n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I stared, trying to grasp the point of the picture and the captions. 我目不转睛地看着漫画，想弄清楚漫画和解说词的意思。 来自辞典例句
• Indicates whether the user or the system paints the captions. 指示是由用户还是由系统来绘制标题。 来自互联网

12 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

13 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

14 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

17 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

18 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

19 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

20 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

22 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

23 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

24 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

25 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

26 retrieves   

v.取回( retrieve的第三人称单数 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• The mole comes in later, retrieves the item and packs it back in his gear. 鼹鼠随后到达，找回东西然后用他的传送装置返回。 来自电影对白
• Retrieves the pitch of the current image, in bytes. 得到代表目前图像斜度的字节数。 来自互联网

27 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

28 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

29 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

30 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

31 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

32 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

33 brokering   

v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的现在分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• Intertwined with these were rivalry, power brokering, and patronage. 然而也不乏有抗争、强权操纵与任命特权交织其中。 来自互联网
• Kingston Quest Can Assist Your Company In Negotiations, Brokering, Agency Services, Sourcing Factories Or Property. 金士顿追求，可帮助您的公司在谈判中，经纪，代理服务，货源工厂或财产。 来自互联网