VOA标准英语2011--Israel Tries Tougher Stance Against Right-Wing Jewish Violence

Israel Tries Tougher Stance Against Right-Wing Jewish Violence

The Israeli government Israel says it will take tough action against those who attack religious institutions or military installations. The warning comes amid rising violence by right-wing Jews angry at Israel's removal of non-sanctioned settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The 12th century Okasha mosque¹ in central Jerusalem. Vandals torched it recently and spray-painted anti-Muslim, anti-Arab graffiti on its walls. They also painted the words, "price tag."

This is a signature of Israelis angered by the demolition² of West Bank Jewish settler outposts, ruled illegal by Israeli courts.

The spokesman for Muslim holy sites, Mahmoud Abu Ata, says these attacks are expanding. "It seems that an organized Jewish group is systematically³ targeting the mosques⁴ and holy places, Muslim and Christian⁵ holy places," he said.

A half-dozen mosques have been attacked recently. There have also been attacks against Arab motorists and the head of an Israeli group that monitors West Bank settlement activity. In some instances, there has been retaliation⁶ by Palestinian Muslims.

Israeli columnist⁷ Danny Rubinstein says Israel's right-wing militants⁸ do not hesitate to use violence. "It's ideological⁹. From their point of view it's very simple. 'We are stuck here as a small island in the middle of an Arabic ocean.' For them, the Arab nation is stretched from the Gulf¹⁰ to Atlantic Ocean," he said.

Palestinian analyst¹¹ Mahdi Abdel Hadi says it's hard for the Israeli government to stop the violence while it continues a policy of settlement expansion. "When you allow these people to take other people's land and homes and against the law and nobody is stopping them. And then they find themselves supported by the generals, the army. And this is the rise of Jewish fundamentalists and terrorist groups," he said.

But the Jewish attackers increasingly are targeting Israeli security forces who oversee¹² the demolition of non-sanctioned outposts. They recently infiltrated¹³ the no-man's-land near Jordan and occupied an abandoned monastery¹⁴.

Others threw stones at this Israeli military post in the West Bank, wounding a commander.

After a public outcry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not allow extremists to spark a religious war. "There is no such thing as ideological crime, there is just crime. There are laws in the country. There is a government in the country. There is democracy in the country. No one is allowed to break the law. No one is allowed to attack IDF (Israel Defense¹⁵ Forces) soldiers. No one is allowed to harm Israeli policemen," he said.

He announced tougher measures against right-wing vandals but rejected a proposal to label them terrorists.

Since then, some suspects have been arrested and a few have been indicted¹⁶. But they have proven to be a stubborn group and few believe they will back down soon.

1 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。

2 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

3 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。

4 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

8 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。

9 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

10 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

13 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

15 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。

16 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。