VOA标准英语2008年-Israel, Hezbollah Swap Prisoners

Israel and the Lebanese Shi'ite militant¹ group Hezbollah carried out a prisoner exchange Wednesday - swapping³ five Lebanese prisoners for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. VOA's Jim Teeple has details from our Jerusalem bureau.

Two years after they were abducted⁴ in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerillas, the remains⁵ of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were brought to the Israeli border in plain black coffins⁶.
　
Photo released by the Israel Prison Authority shows Lebanese militant prisoner Samir Kantar (R) with other prisoners before leaving the Hadarim prison near the Israeli coastal⁷ coty of Netanya, 16 Jul 2008

Israel is handing over five Lebanese prisoners, including Samir Kantar who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a deadly terrorist attack in 1979. Israel is also releasing the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinians killed in fighting with Israel, over the years.

The prisoner exchange is extremely controversial in Israel because Kantar was found guilty of killing⁸ an Israeli man, Danny Haran, and his four-year-old daughter as well as a policeman in the 1979 attack. Israel says Kantar killed the young girl by crushing her head with his rifle butt⁹, something he denies. Another child in the family died after being accidentally smothered¹⁰ by her mother who was hiding from Kantar. Speaking before the prisoner exchange took place, Nina Keren, Danny Haran's mother criticized the deal.

"How can a government give freedom to such a man who did not show mercy to a small four-year-old girl," she said. "I think the government made a big mistake."

Relatives of the policeman killed in the 1979 attack lost a last-minute court appeal to block the prisoner exchange, which was approved by a cabinet vote of 22 to three, Tuesday.

Israel's military strongly argued for the prisoner exchange saying there can be no higher goal that getting Israeli prisoners back home - dead or alive. The widow of Danny Haran also supported the swap², as did the families of the two Israeli soldiers abducted two years ago. Yuli Tamir, Israel's minister of education, says the government did what it had to do.

"Kantar is a very cruel murderer. He murdered a whole family -- two little children and a father," he added. "Nevertheless, we felt we had the responsibility to bring our soldiers back home and the correct responsibility is for the families."

What happened to Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regav remains unclear. At least one of the two men was reported to be alive when they were seized, although both men were said to be badly wounded in the attack that led to their capture.

Israelis are also expressing disappointment that their government could not get more information from Hezbollah about the fate of Ron Arad, the Israeli airman who went missing in Lebanon in 1986.

Hours after Goldwasser and Regav were seized, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon and Hezbollah responded with thousands of rocket attacks against targets in northern Israel. More than one-thousand Lebanese and more than 150 Israelis were killed in the month-long conflict, before a United Nations-mediated ceasefire went into effect.

　

 

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 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

3 swapping   

交换，交换技术

参考例句：

• The slow swapping and buying of horses went on. 马匹的买卖和交换就是这样慢慢地进行着。
• He was quite keen on swapping books with friends. 他非常热衷于和朋友们交换书籍。

4 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

5 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。

6 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 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。

9 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

10 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。