VOA标准英语2008年-Wounded Israeli Activist Warns of Threat to Dem

A wounded Israeli activist¹ has lashed² out at right-wing opponents believed to have targeted him in a bombing. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.
　
Ze'ev Sternhell (file)

A day after he was wounded in a bomb attack, prominent Israeli professor and activist Ze'ev Sternhell has accused Jewish extremists of threatening democracy. He said that when extremists take the law into their own hands and use violence against their opponents, democracy is beginning to crumble³.

Police believe right-wing Jewish militants⁴ carried out the attack because Sternhell is an outspoken⁵ critic of settlers in the West Bank. The pipe bomb exploded as the professor emerged from his home in Jerusalem.

Police found posters in his neighborhood offering a $320,000 reward to anyone who kills a member of the dovish Israeli Peace Now movement.

The settlers were furious over an article by Sternhell in which he urged Palestinians to avoid attacks on Jews in Israel proper, and instead to target settlers in the West Bank.

He defended his remarks as he was released from the hospital.

"The occupation is illegitimate... and must be ended," he said. "The settlers see that as treason, but it is a legitimate⁶ point of view."

The bomb attack brought sharp condemnation⁷ across the political spectrum⁸. Parliamentarian Reuven Rivlin is from the right-wing Likud party which supports the settlers.

"We have to warn everybody not to hate, not to hate the settlers and not to hate those who hate the settlers," Rivlin said. "Hatred⁹ between brothers is something that brought upon us disasters in the past and could bring upon us disasters in the future."

The attack touched a raw nerve here. Israelis have been extremely sensitive to political violence since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated¹⁰ by a right-wing Jew opposed to his peace policies in 1995.

 

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

4 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。

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

6 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

7 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

8 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

9 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

10 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句