2007年VOA标准英语-Power Split Isolates Residents in Palestinian T

By Jim Teeple
Nablus, West Bank
02 July 2007
 

The recent takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants² has left the Palestinian territories divided.  Hamas now rules Gaza, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction³ controls the West Bank.  Tensions are high across the Palestinian territories, as VOA's Jim Teeple found out when he visited the West Bank city of Nablus. 

Kholood Masri

Kholood Masri warns visitors to be careful these days when they enter the al Juthour Cultural Center.  The center, in the West Bank city of Nablus, was recently attacked and burned.   About 150 women used to come to the center to learn computer skills and other trades but now they will have to go somewhere else.

Kholood Masri is the deputy mayor of Nablus and a member of the Islamic militant¹ group Hamas.   She says she is in shock.  She is also angry.  "This destruction is not only to resources but to human possibilities. The women working in this center were the breadwinners of their families. Their chances of putting food to their tables and houses are gone."

Palestinian security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah fraction, take their positions at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, 18 Jun 2007

Nablus is at war. Almost five years ago Israeli troops entered the city to attack Palestinian militants.  There was heavy fighting. 

The fighting and tensions continue but now the war is largely between Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas.

Ever since Hamas defeated Fatah in the Gaza strip, Fatah has targeted West Bank Hamas militants and Hamas politicians, such as Kholood Masri, in West Bank cities where Fatah is stronger than Hamas.

Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist group.  But Palestinians give Kholood Masri and other Hamas politicians wide support for their social programs like the al Juthour Cultural Center.  But now Kholood Masri says all she can think about is protecting herself and her family. "For sure there is danger on my life and my children's lives.  They are always telling me we have prepared something for you.  All these are messages that carry in them dangerous threats."

Nablus is the most populous⁴ city in the West Bank   In the city center Palestinian gunmen allied⁵ with Fatah are the law.  But Israel controls access into and out of the city, and Nablus residents need Israeli permission to come and go.  The city is full of tension, with Israeli checkpoints trapping Nablus residents, and gunmen ruling the city center.

The gunmen of Fatah's armed wing are the al-Aksa Martyrs⁶ Brigade.  Hunted by Israel for carrying out terrorist attacks, Martyrs Brigade gunmen now hunt Hamas in West Bank cities.

Fayez Tirawi

Fayez Tirawi is a leader of the al-Aksa Martyrs brigade in Nablus.  He and his men provide security on the streets.  He works out of his brother's office -- an al-Aksa leader recently arrested by Israel.  Tirawi says his men are angry at how Hamas defeated Fatah in Gaza, and now he wants to destroy Hamas in Nablus.

Tirawi will not say if he was behind the attack on Kholood Masri's center, but he says he and his men are disrupting Hamas institutions. He says the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade will eradicate⁷ Hamas from Nablus.

Just a short distance away in downtown Nablus there are few signs of the tensions between Fatah and Hamas, but many in Nablus, like Mustapha Ahmed Mansour, say Palestinians need to unite and not divide.

"Both Gaza and here must be one unit, no change, no change absolutely.  It is very bad for Palestinians," says the Nablus resident

There are few signs of that happening in Nablus or anywhere else in the Palestinian territories --  which are now divided between Hamas, controlling the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, in control of cities like Nablus in the West Bank.

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 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。

3 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

4 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

5 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

6 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。