2006年VOA标准英语-Hezbollah Handing Out Cash to Rebuild Lebanese

By Margaret Besheer
Haret Hreik, Lebanon
20 August 2006

As soon as the U.N. brokered¹ cease-fire went into effect in Lebanon last Monday, Hezbollah's social welfare machine shifted into high gear. The organization, which is branded a terrorist group by the United States, has been registering thousands of Lebanese who have lost their homes during the 34 days of fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant² group.

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A Lebanese Hezbollah member gives US dollar bills to a resident of the suburb of Beirut who lost his house during the month-long Israeli offensive

Just days ago, the badly bombed southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik was a ghost town. Now, it is alive with traffic and the sound of heavy machinery³ clearing the debris⁴ of more than a month of Israeli bombardments.

In front of the rubble⁵ that is the remains⁶ of Hezbollah's television station, al-Manar, a truck blares music over a loudspeaker glorifying⁷ their cause.

In the piles of rubble that were once people's homes, large red banners have appeared, with the words, Made in the USA. Everywhere is the slogan: The Divine Victory. No where is it mentioned that Hezbollah provoked the Israeli military campaign by crossing the border on July 12 and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.

Since the cease-fire took effect, Hezbollah has launched a new battle, this one a monumental public relations effort backed up with millions of dollars in cash. The Party of God does not want the people to turn on it, and it is soothing⁸ potential anger with stacks of one hundred dollar bills.

At one Hezbollah registration⁹ center people are filing in at a steady pace. They are welcomed by friendly volunteers who offer water and candy. Those making claims have only to bring their official identification and some sort of proof that they owned or rented a damaged or destroyed apartment. In most cases, residents receive their compensation within 48 hours.

Hezbollah official, Bilal Naim said the party is helping¹⁰ all Lebanese Muslim and Christian¹¹ - whose homes have been destroyed or damaged. "In the south, in the Bekaa [Valley], in the north of Lebanon, everywhere in Lebanon, the same thing, everybody who lost their house or apartment we will give them $10,000 in the south and Bekaa, and $12,000 in Beirut for the stability to rent a new apartment and to buy furniture," he said.

Critics of Hezbollah say the money is coming from its biggest backer, Iran. But Naim says it is coming from donations as well as from money the group already had designated for building mosques¹² and community centers.

Hezbollah began handing out compensation on Thursday, just three days after the cease-fire took effect. The Lebanese government, meanwhile, has not announced any plans to assist the homeless and displaced.

Hezbollah has a reputation for being a well-organized social machine. During Israel's two-decade long occupation of south Lebanon, which ended in May 2000, the group ran hospitals, schools and other community projects in the absence of the Lebanese government. But even with this reputation, people are still surprised at how fast it has mobilized during this crisis.

Hadi Mohammed Mahmoud has come to a compensation center at Al-Mahdi al-Shahid school. His apartment was not far from Hezbollah headquarters and was totally destroyed in an air strike. He says he was very impressed when he saw how Hezbollah embraced us, how they took care of us and they came and told us you are our brothers, our family, do not worry about this, we will rebuild and compensate¹³ you.

In addition to his home, Mahmoud also lost his electronics business. For now, Hezbollah is concentrating its efforts on helping people whose homes were damaged or destroyed; compensation for businesses will come later.

Nazira Farhat also lost her home to an Israeli air strike. She says she fled with just one suitcase of essential items after Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on her neighborhood warning residents to evacuate¹⁴. She has also come to the school to collect her $12,000.

A Hezbollah official checks over her paperwork and then casually¹⁵ pulls out a bundle of $100 bills from a black nylon bag, and hands them over to Farhat. It is not enough to replace the home, jewelry¹⁶ and furniture she says she has lost, but it is a start. Farhat seems satisfied; she says she cannot dwell on her possessions when others have lost their lives.

1 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

2 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。

3 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

5 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。

6 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。

7 glorifying   

赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• I had no intention of either glorifying or belittling Christianity, merely the desire to understand it. 我并没有赞扬基督教或蔑视它的立意，我所想的只是了解它。
• You are glorifying a rather mediocre building. 你正在美化一栋普普通通的建筑。

8 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

9 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 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。

12 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。

13 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

14 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

15 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

16 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。