VOA标准英语2010年-Pressure Grows on Israel After Fatal R

This video image released by the Turkish Aid group IHH Monday, 31 May 2010, purports¹ to show Israeli soldiers aboard a military vessel² in international waters off the Gaza coast surrounding a Turkish ship

Pressure is growing on Israel after its commandos raided a flotilla of aid ships that were trying to break the blockade on Gaza.  The raid early Monday, in which nine activists³ died, has set off a wave of international criticism.  But very little of that criticism is coming from people at home.

Israel began sending home some of the nearly 700 pro-Palestinian activists who were aboard the six vessels⁴.

Some, like this Turkish man, spoke⁵ of the violence they witnessed when Israeli commandos came down on the main ship, a Turkish vessel, during the raid in the eastern Mediterranean⁶.

He says the commandos came down from helicopters and attacked the activists.  He said the commandos first warned the activists, who had told the soldiers they were not armed.

Listen to David Byrd's interview with Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at University of Maryland:

 
Israeli military officials point to video that shows activists hitting the commandos with iron bars and chairs, and say the soldiers acted in self-defense when they opened fire.

The ships are sitting at the Israeli port of Ashdod.  Some of their passengers were led away in handcuffs.  Authorities say those who are agreeing to expulsion are being taken to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport and flown home.

By late Tuesday, scores had been repatriated⁷.  They included American Edward Peck, a former diplomat⁸ who had served as U.S. ambassador to Mauritania.

Hundreds of others remained at detention⁹ centers across Israel.  Israeli Foreign Ministry¹⁰ spokesman Yigal Palmor told VOA some could be put on trial for attacking the commandos. "Those who have been clearly identified as aggressors are being questioned by the security service and it is possible that they will be prosecuted," he said.

As international condemnation¹¹ mounts, there is also some criticism at home of how the raid was carried out.  Newspaper columnists¹² and some members of the opposition¹³ questioned the legality of the operation, and whether the flotilla could have been intercepted¹⁴ without using force.

But overall Israelis express overwhelming support for the raid.  Many have little sympathy for those in the Gaza Strip, where militants¹⁵ have been firing rockets at Israel for several years.  Some believe that lifting the blockade would be opening the door to a flow of weapons that would be used to attack Israelis.

On Jerusalem's busy Ben Yehuda Street, a man says the Israeli military acted in the interest of protecting its citizens when it intercepted the flotilla. He says it was the right thing to do because there simply was no other choice.

Another man says he has doubts about the methods the commandos used, and worries about the raid's effects on Israel's image overseas. "In general, it was the right thing to do, but not in the way it was done," he said.

Israel has begun moving cargo¹⁶ from the aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip after inspecting it.

Egypt announced it is temporarily lifting the blockade it has been enforcing, along with Israel, on the Gaza Strip. 

Tensions remained high along Israel's border with Gaza, where the Israeli military says gunfire erupted after militants crossed the border from Gaza into Israel and opened fire at soldiers.  

Israeli war planes struck targets in Gaza on Tuesday in response to a rocket attack.
 

1 purports   

v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

7 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

9 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 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。

12 columnists   

n.专栏作家( columnist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This story will be more fodder for the gossip columnists. 这个传闻会是闲谈专栏作家的又一素材。
• The columnists coined the phrase \"to broderick\", meaning to rough up. 专栏作家们杜撰出一个新词“布罗德里克”意思是“动武”、“打架”。 来自辞典例句

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

15 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。

16 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。