VOA标准英语2008年-60 Years After Israel's Founding, Palestinians

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
06 May 2008
 

Sixty years ago, May 8, 1948, Israel declared its independence - following a decision by the United Nations to partition the area known as the British mandate¹ territory of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.  Israelis celebrate their independence, but for Palestinians the anniversary is known as al-Naqba or the catastrophe².  VOA's Jim Teeple reports that, in the war that ensued, many Palestinians fled to the West Bank, which became part of Jordan and then was seized by Israel in the 1967 war. For these Palestinian refugees, and for others in the surrounding Arab countries, the anniversary of Israel's founding is an annual reminder³ of the homes they lost many years ago.  

The old men of the Jalazone refugee camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah have plenty of time to think of the past.  Many have been here for 60 years - ever since they fled their former homes in what became Israel.

Sixty years after Israel's founding, more than four million Palestinians are still refugees. Many live in crowded refugee camps like Jalazone on the West Bank, which Israel seized in 1967.

Often, they survive on international donor⁴ assistance. 

Mohammed Ghawanmeh and his mother Hajar have lived in Jalazone for more than 50 years. Mohammed was born in this house.  His only other address was an Israeli prison, where he served time for being a leader of the Palestinian militant⁵ group Islamic Jihad. 

The lives of Mohammed and his mother are defined by exile.  

Hajar says this key is all the family has of their house in their native village, Dawayima.  The family fled in the 1948 war that followed Israel's independence. Hajar says she still longs to go back,  "If I had my way after 60 years I would go back right now and nothing here means anything to me.  The only thing that means anything is my village.  I can't go back and I am frustrated⁶.  I will only be a total human being if I can go back." 

In 1948, as their state was declared, Israelis were joyous⁷. But Arab armies almost immediately attacked the new state. Israel fought a desperate battle for survival. In the process 700,000 Palestinians lost their homes and fled to surrounding Arab countries and to the West Bank.

Dawayima was attacked by Israel's 89th battalion⁸. About 100 villagers were killed. Everyone else fled, never to return.

This is all that now remains⁹ of Dawayima.  The olive groves¹⁰ are now deep inside Israel and no one lives here anymore. 

Some Israeli leaders have said that Israeli soldiers forced Palestinians to leave their villages.  But Israeli leaders say the Jewish state would be doomed¹¹ if Palestinian refugees are allowed to return.   

Issam Arruri Directs the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center in the West Bank city of Ramallah.   He says the refugee issue is central to the Palestinian cause, "The issue of refugees is the essence of the conflict.  Before 1967 the West Bank and Gaza were not occupied and there were no settlements, no barrier, but there was a conflict because of the issue of refugees."

Back in the Jalazone refugee camp the refugees are bitter after 60 years of exile. 

A man says he will never give up the dream of returning to his old home, "All the people in the camp and not just this camp have two things that are important to them; their land and their honor.  These two are inseparable."

But Mohammed Ghawanmeh says while he would like to return to Dawayima he realizes he probably never will, "The right of return is the right of refugees to go back to their towns but is it possible I do not think so."

Mohammed says, if a Palestinian state is created in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, he will accept it as his new home. He says Palestinians will drop their resistance to Israel once they have a state of their own.

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 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。

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

5 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。

6 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

8 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

11 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。