VOA标准英语2009-Lebanon Struggles for Stability on Eve of El

Lebanon is a fractured land that has a long-standing struggle among a mixture of Christian¹ sects², Sunnis, Shias, Druze and other religious factions⁴. Since a resurgence⁵ of hostilities⁶ in 2006, when Israel launched a major military campaign against the armed group Hezbollah, the country has struggled to regain⁷ the relative stability it enjoyed after the 1975-1990 civil war and it now prepares for parliamentary elections on June 7.

Religion is the political fault line that runs through Lebanon. It is not just Islam and Christianity, but also the sects within those religions.

The divisions led to civil war in 1975 that lasted 15 years. Out of the ashes of the war, Lebanon's fragile new democracy was born. It saw the allocation of parliamentary seats based on religious divide.

Maronite Christian candidate Massoud Ashkar says he believes Lebanon's system needs to change.

"It is not the realistic law that we need for all the people, but we will deal with it," he said. "We hope that next time there will be another law, an electoral law, where all the Lebanese will be on the same level."

But American University of Beirut Political Science Professor Hillal Khashan disagrees.

"Let us be realistic, Lebanon is built on a political fault line and to tell you the truth and to be honest, I like it the way it is because it cannot get any better," he said. "If they try to make it better, it will get worse."

The most powerful religious-political faction³ in Lebanon is the Muslim Shia group, Hezbollah. It began as a militia⁸ set-up to expel Israel from Lebanon in the 1980s. It has moved into the political domain⁹, but it has yet to give up its arms.

Independent candidate, Walid Maalouf, says it is time for Hezbollah to disarm¹⁰.

"I disagree with Hezbollah. We must stop having this kind of ideas that we want to have arms in our hands to protect ourselves from any foreign attacks," said Maalour. "The Lebanese army should have the only power and the only say so in protecting the Lebanese territories."

But a Hezbollah member of parliament, Nawar Sahili, says the group will disarm when Lebanon is stronger.

"We think the day we stop the resistance Israel will come into Lebanon like they are tourists," Sahili said. "So we have to have our resistance and our people protecting Lebanon until we have a strong army and a strong state."

Analysts¹¹ say the first step to strengthening Lebanon is security and stability. Lebanese democracy may not be perfect, but it appears to have so far managed to unite a deeply divided country.

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 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句

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 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

6 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

7 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

10 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。