加沙的抗议活动未能结束以色列的封锁

Weekly Protests in Gaza Fail to End Israel’s Blockade

Last weekend, the Islamist group Hamas marked the one year anniversary of violent, weekly protests in the Gaza Strip. The unrest has failed to end Israel’s blockade of the territory.

The Associated Press reports that Israel used airstrikes to answer rocket attacks from Gaza. In addition, some Gazans demonstrated against the increasingly unpopular rule of Hamas militants¹.

Even with the protests, Hamas’ control over Gaza appears to be strong.

The militants’ rule has been strengthened by an unlikely overlap² of interests with Israel’s government. Neither side wants to see an independent state established in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem as a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. And Hamas’ refusal to give up power is seen to support Israel’s policy of keeping a separation between the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas has long stated that Israel must be destroyed. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and clashed many other times along Gaza’s border. Yet the two sides are once again meeting with Egyptian negotiators.

Under a possible deal, Hamas would halt rocket fire and keep border protests peaceful. In exchange, Israel would ease its border blockade and let the territory receive as much as $30 million a month in Qatari aid.

For Gaza residents, open-ended Hamas rule is not a hopeful sign.

Gaza’s two million people have faced rising poverty and unemployment since 2007, when Hamas took control of the territory. Israel and Egypt closed Gaza’s borders soon after.

In recent weeks, hundreds of Gazans demonstrated against Hamas and its policies, such as new tax increases. Many were jailed and beaten.

Twenty-seven-year old Amer Balousha says he was among the protesters and claims to have been mistreated in Hamas’ detention³. Balousha completed law school, but is currently unemployed⁴.

“If the situation does not improve, the protests will continue,” he said.

Israel's elections

Israeli legislative⁵ elections will take place on April 9th. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking another term in office. Netanyahu’s political opponents say his Gaza policy exposes Israel to blackmail⁶ by Hamas.

Last month, Netanyahu reportedly said that Israelis who oppose Palestinian statehood should back his policy of permitting the flow of Qatari aid to Gaza. This policy helps to continue the separation between the two Palestinian governments: Hamas in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Tareq Baconi is with the International Crisis Group. He notes that “there is a great confluence⁷ of interests” between Israel and Hamas.

“Netanyahu prefers to deal with Hamas because clear dynamics⁸ have been established and Hamas will not seek a final resolution (of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) from Israel,” Baconi said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has given up on making peace with Hamas after years of failed efforts. He has increased financial pressure on Gaza by cutting the wages for tens of thousands of former government workers who live in Gaza.

Such cutbacks worsened Gaza’s economic health. But instead of inciting⁹ a popular uprising against Hamas, anger turned toward Abbas.

The Palestinian leader is also suspicious of Gaza development projects proposed by Qatar and the United Nations. The proposals have Israeli and United States government support. He fears it is part of a plot to turn Gaza into a Palestinian mini-state and undercut Palestinian political claims to the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The International Crisis Group’s Baconi said that Abbas’ policies are counterproductive, even if his concerns are understandable. Putting more economic actions on Gaza or trying to break the Hamas government will further entrench¹⁰ the division,” he said.

I'm Jill Robbins.

And I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

overlap – v. to happen at the same time as something else (noun – overlap)

expose – v. to make known

blackmail – n. the use of threats to demand money or something else of value

confluence – n. somewhat formal a situation in which two things come together or happen at the same time — usually + of

prefer – v. to like better than someone or something else

dynamic – n. a force that leads to change or progress

counterproductive – adj. having the opposite of the desired effect

entrench – v. to establish

1 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。

2 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

7 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

8 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

9 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

10 entrench   

v.使根深蒂固；n.壕沟；防御设施

参考例句：

• A series of measures were designed to entrench democracy and the rule of law.采取一系列措施旨在巩固民主和法制。
• These dictators have entrenched themselves politically and are difficult to move.这些独裁者在政治上已经站稳了脚跟，很难推翻他们。