2007年VOA标准英语-Three Women Tour US, Call for End to Israeli-Pa

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, D.C.
30 April 2007
 

Three women from Jerusalem -- a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian¹ -- are touring the United States together, speaking to civic², academic and religious groups about what life is like under the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They are calling for a just and comprehensive peace settlement, and for an end to war and suffering in the Middle East. The tour is the 13th of its kind organized by a Washington-based group called Partners for Peace. It is dedicated³ to educating the American public about how to secure peace and justice among Palestinians and Israelis. VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi has more.

The three women started their speaking tour in Washington, D.C.  Huda Abu Arquob, a Muslim Palestinian, carried a message from Palestinians to the American people.

"Tell them we do not hate them, but we blame them for not taking actions to stop what could be another native American tragedy,” she said. “Tell them we teach our students to respect the other and respect his rights to live in dignity."the notion that Palestinians are violent people, and to provide insight into how Palestinians must live their lives. "Come and live in the Middle East, come and live in the West Bank, cross the checkpoint every day, get humiliated⁴, verbally abused every day and you will know why."

Abu Arquob says that there are enough peace activists⁵ on both sides to lead a different path to settle the conflict.

Tal Dor is an Israeli Jew. She serves on the board of Zochrot, an association that promotes what it considers a realistic view of Israel's history. She became active in introducing what she calls the historical facts after realizing that what Israelis consider a war of independence, Palestinians call the catastrophe⁶ or "Nakba."

Tal Dor

"When I met Palestinians for the first time I was 23, and I heard the word 'Nakba' and I said what is that? I did not know what it means,” recalls Dor. “I did not know that there is another narrative⁷ for the war of independence because I have been always told that the land was vacant and it was a land without people – for people without land – and that we did not do anything wrong, we just needed land. That first acknowledgement, that first eye-opening changed my life."

Dor says that she believes that in spite of Israel's separation wall, peace between Israelis and Palestinians is within reach. She says she hopes that her speaking tour will contribute to educating Americans about how peace activists in Israel are willing to grant Palestinian refugees the right of return.

She uses an innovative⁸ way to refer to U.N. Resolution 194 from 1948. "This is a bus ticket, resolution 194, and it actually says here, it is valid⁹ from the 10th of December 1948 and has no limitation on time. So basically it is the bus ticket for the right of return."

Both Israelis and Palestinians have suffered for decades from the violent conflict. But Amal Nassar, a Palestinian Christian, says they must learn to co-exist.  Nassar founded a group called "Tent of Nations" that advocates non-violence.

"It is very important to talk. I want to make peace with you, but I never talk to you how then I can make peace?" she asks.

Nassar says she has forged lasting¹⁰ friendships with Israeli peace activists to work together to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the suffering of both sides. She says peace must start with the young generation.

"I want the young generation of Palestinians and Israelis to be educated on how to be together, to talk together in order to achieve peace."

The three women are of three faiths, but they have one shared vision -- to advocate a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is a solution the U.S. government supports. They say they hope that their speaking tour will get the American public more involved in the push for peace in the Middle East.

1 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。

2 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

7 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

8 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

9 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

10 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。