美国国家公共电台 NPR--75 years ago: Israel's triumph became a catastrophe for Palestinians

75 years ago: Israel's triumph became a catastrophe¹ for Palestinians

Transcript²

Palestinians mark 75 years since what they call the Nakba, or "catastrophe," when Palestinians were displaced during Israel's founding war.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

One nation's triumph became another people's catastrophe 75 years ago today. Israel was established as a homeland for Jews and most of the Palestinians there were displaced. As NPR's Daniel Estrin reports, this is not just history for Palestinians today.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE³: A Palestinian family turns on some music, spreads open a blanket and barbecues next to the ruins of their village that Israel destroyed many years ago. Several Palestinian families are here doing the same. Up a hill, 35-year-old Nael Abdel Rahman (ph) picks a wild herb for tea.

NAEL ABDEL RAHMAN: This is my home, actually.

ESTRIN: Why do you come here?

N ABDEL RAHMAN: To remember our village. To remember our home.

ESTRIN: This longing⁴ is at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 1947, the U.N. voted to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. That sparked fighting between Arab and Jewish militias⁵. Israel declared independence on May 15, 1948. Regional Arab armies invaded. Israel won the war the next year. By then, the vast majority of the Arabs there had fled or were expelled. Their homes were given to Jewish immigrants or were destroyed. Palestinians call it the Nakba, the catastrophe. And many of them call it an ongoing⁶ catastrophe. This family's village, Yalo, was destroyed by Israel not in 1948 but in the 1967 war, one of the last Palestinian villages entirely⁷ depopulated and destroyed.

REEM RUB: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: Forty-five-year-old Reem Rub (ph) walks me down the nature trail that was her father's old village road.

RUB: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: Wow. This is where your grandfather's house was?

RUB: Yeah. (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: There's a berry tree. There's a pomegranate tree next to her grandfather's old house.

What's no longer here today is mapped out in her mind.

RUB: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: She points. Here's the Abu Rub (ph) family home, the Abdel Rahman (ph) family. Here's the mosque⁸. Here's the village graveyard⁹. Today, her extended family lives in a West Bank refugee camp. Many of them need a special Israeli permit to make this kind of visit to their old village. Today, it's a popular park with a forest planted over the ruins.

RUB: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: She says her father's generation was scared after being expelled and had no confidence to fight for their rights. Today, she says, the younger generation asks, why do I live in a crowded place in the West Bank when I have this land?

RUB: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: She says, today, Israel is stronger than us. They have weapons. They have relations with countries around the world. But we have belief in God. She believes Palestinians will return to their destroyed villages and rebuild them. I asked Nael Abdel Rahman.

Do you actually think one day you will come back here?

N ABDEL RAHMAN: Inshallah. We hope that.

MOHAMAD ABDEL RAHMAN: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: His brother, Mohamad (ph), says the truth, as we see it, it's hard or impossible to come back. But with God's help, we will. Israel says this is a red line - the return of Palestinian refugees would spell the end of the Jewish state. Israel even has a law that allows the government to penalize¹⁰ any organization that commemorates¹¹ Israeli Independence Day as a day of mourning. As the displacement¹² feels continuous for Palestinians, Israelis continue to wrestle¹³ with the history of the Nakba in new ways.

SHAY HAZKANI: These are called village files. Quite astonishing.

ESTRIN: Israeli historian Shay Hazkani wrote "Dear Palestine," a book about the 1948 war. He took me to an Israeli archive and showed me a recently discovered trove¹⁴ of intelligence documents that Zionist forces compiled in the years leading up to Israel's founding - hundreds of Palestinian villages documented in meticulous¹⁵ detail, villages Israel later destroyed. There's been controversy¹⁶ recently about how to handle these kinds of documents. Israeli media have covered cases of defense¹⁷ officials removing documents from archives and classifying them, reportedly saying they could stir up unrest.

HAZKANI: I would say that what they're mostly concerned of is the actual remnants and story of Arab Palestine that is contained in these files - right? - you know, that people would read them, that scholars would write histories that resurrect a civilization that once existed here and was, essentially¹⁸, almost entirely destroyed. The heritage of that place is gone.

ESTRIN: Today, millions of Palestinians live stateless with the violence of an entrenched¹⁹ Israeli military occupation. Israel has had its most ultranationalist government in history, with far-right ministers who have called to erase²⁰ a Palestinian village and campaigned to encourage Palestinians to leave. Some Palestinians say they fear a second Nakba and say their role is simply to stay put and prevent another historic displacement.

MAHMOUD MUNA: It's haunting, this book, haunting to read.

ESTRIN: Another way the history of the Nakba stays alive is in books. Forty-year-old Mahmoud Muna runs the Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem. His father-in-law lost his home when Israel was founded in 1948. On his bookshelves, Muna sees a new trend in what Palestinians are writing about today.

MUNA: Writings that's not necessarily about memory but about political solutions.

ESTRIN: He says Palestinian thinkers are not exploring the two-state solution like they did 30 years ago. That's the compromise that the U.S. still supports, where Israelis keep the land they captured in 1948 and Palestinians get their own state in the territories Israel occupied in 1967. In the absence of that outcome, many Palestinian writers today are imagining a one-state future together with Israelis. Muna says this will take mutual²¹ recognition of each other's histories.

MUNA: The Israelis need to acknowledge that they have responsibilities for the displacement of the Palestinian people and the killing²² and creating the Palestinian refugee issue. And for the Palestinians, that we need to also acknowledge that the Jewish people have roots in this place and have reasons of belonging to this place. And it's a very huge step from both sides, but I think it is essential to be taken.

ESTRIN: That's the future he imagines. The present he describes as injustice²³ for Palestinians and what many Palestinians call a continuing catastrophe.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Jerusalem.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA'S "BURN OUT")

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

9 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

10 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

11 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

13 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

14 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

15 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

16 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

20 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

21 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

22 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

23 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。