2006年VOA标准英语-Hamas to Begin Paying Overdue Salaries

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
03 June 2006

The Islamic militant¹ group Hamas, which heads the Palestinian Authority, plans to begin paying overdue² salaries to government employees next week. But it is nowhere near enough to cover what Hamas owes after just nine weeks in power.

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The Hamas-led government says that, on Monday, it will begin paying some salaries to civil servants that are three months overdue. But only about a quarter of the 165,000 Palestinian Authority employees will get one month's pay. The rest will get partial payment later.

Hamas has been hit hard by international sanctions that have left the new government broke. But the group continues to reject U.S. and European conditions for restoring nearly $1 billion in annual aid - namely, renouncing³ violence and recognizing Israel. 

Palestinian police members of the Fatah movement rally outside the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City Thursday June 1, 2006 calling on the Hamas-led government to pay overdue salaries   
  
The financial crisis has fanned growing discontent. In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 2,000 civil servants protested the unpaid⁴ salaries. They included some 400 armed police officers, some of whom fired in the air.

But many Palestinians blame the international community for the situation, rather than Hamas. Palestinian analyst⁵ Bassam Eid says the sanctions harm ordinary Palestinians, and, therefore, it is collective punishment.

"The international community must have to know that the Palestinian society is over 3.5 million people, and the Palestinian society is not only the Hamas organization or the Hamas government."

Palestinian officials and western diplomats⁶ have warned that economic collapse⁷ in the West Bank and Gaza could lead to a humanitarian⁸ crisis and spark a new wave of violence and terror.

So, the international community is seeking a way to funnel⁹ aid to the Palestinian people, while bypassing the Hamas government. But that will take a while, and, in the meantime, a growing number of Palestinians are wondering where they will find the money for their next meal

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 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

3 renouncing   

v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• He enraged the government by renouncing the agreement. 他否认那项协议，从而激怒了政府。 来自辞典例句
• What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? 抛弃台湾，并转而拥抱北京之后，你会得到什么？ 来自互联网

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

9 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。