2006年VOA标准英语-Lebanon Asks Security Council to Investigate Qa

By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
01 August 2006
 

Lebanese Civil Defense¹ officer holds piece of missile, found in rubble² of demolished³ building struck by Israeli missiles in Qana  
  
Israeli and Lebanese officials clashed at a Security Council meeting Monday as Lebanon's acting⁴ foreign minister, Tareq Mitri, asked for an international investigation⁵ into the deadly air strike on the southern town of Qana, where 54 people, including many children, were killed Sunday.

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Mitri, who is also Lebanon's Minister of Culture, repeated Lebanon's demand for an immediate⁶ ceasefire in the battle between Israel and Hezbollah forces. He described a "pattern of behavior" in Israel's actions against Lebanon and asked that an international probe of the civilian⁷ deaths be set in motion. "This is a deliberate massacre⁸ against civilians⁹. The civilians in Qana had been given the choice of either staying in the shelter or leave because they were asked to leave. How could they leave when all the roads are bombarded? There have been many civilians that were asked to flee their villages and as they were, they were bombarded. So, they were given a choice between being bombarded while on a truck or in a shelter," he said.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of using southern Lebanon to launch rockets into northern Israel. Israel says it did not know that civilians had taken shelter in the building. But the acting foreign minster told the Security Council the Lebanese people are tired of hearing that mistakes are made in war situations.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, said Israel has repeatedly been forced to take action against forces operating in Lebanon. He said Lebanon must take some responsibility for losing control of its own fate. "Violence is there because you have allowed violence to take you over. You have allowed a peaceful, fun-loving, entrepreneurial, cultural country to become a hotbed of terrorism and a cesspool of hatred¹⁰. When those children are incited¹¹ the way they are, do not expect them to grow up any other way. These children do not need Qana in order to hate us. I believe that no baby is born wanting to be a suicide bomber¹² and no mother gives birth to a child wanting him to become a shaheed (suicide bomber), but if that is the kind of culture they grow up in, indeed, violence breeds violence," he said.

Mitri said Lebanon has approved a plan to end the conflict, which calls for an increase in international troops in southern Lebanon and the release of Israeli and Lebanese prisoners. But he said a political solution cannot be negotiated without a ceasefire.

1 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。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 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。

11 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

12 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。