2007年VOA标准英语-Week Marks 40th Anniversary of 1967 Middle East

By Meredith Buel
Washington
05 June 2007

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Middle East War, a six-day conflict that led to Israel's stunning¹ victory over three Arab armies. Analysts² say, however, the four decades that followed brought occupation and misery³ to generations of Palestinians and never led to peace and security for the Jewish state. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has more in this background report from Washington.

On the morning of June 5 1967 Israel launched Operation Focus, with nearly 200 warplanes flying over the Mediterranean⁴ to engage in a massive attack on Egyptian airfields⁵.

The assault caught the Egyptians by surprise, destroying virtually all of the country's air force and guaranteeing Israeli air superiority for the remainder of the Six Day War.

Yuval Rabin is the son of Yitzhak Rabin, who at the time was the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense⁶ Forces and was later assassinated⁷ while serving as the country's prime minister.

"I believe the Six Day War was a just war, a war that dramatically changed Israel's position in the region and in the world," said Yuval Rabin. "Yet, it has yet to deliver on its main goal, ensuring our long term sustainability and security within defined and agreed borders."

Palestinians cross the Israeli army's Hawara Checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, 5 Jun 2007

In the weeks before the war, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser expelled a United Nations force from the Sinai Peninsula and deployed⁸ 100,000 troops with nearly 1,000 tanks to the area.

The popular leader of the Pan-Arab movement also announced he would close the Straits of Tiran, which would block Israel's southern access to the rest of the world through the Gulf⁹ of Aqaba.

Historians say these moves were in response to what turned out to be a false intelligence report given to the Egyptians by the Soviet¹⁰ Union warning that Israeli troops were massing along the Syrian border and were planning an invasion of that country.

Days before the war, Israeli officials told the United States they had learned of an Egyptian and Syrian plan to launch a war of annihilation against the Jewish state, but U.S. officials said at the time they could not confirm the information.

Michael Bar Zohar, an Israeli historian and author of a book on the Six Day War, says all sides in the conflict misjudged each other.

"What happened before and during the Six Day War, mostly before the Six Day War, was the worst heap of misconceptions, misunderstandings, mistakes and mismanagement that the modern world has known in this time," said Michael Bar Zohar. "Nobody understood anybody."

Historians say in the days before war broke out, both the United States and the Soviet Union warned each other to stay out of the conflict.

Then-U.S. President Lyndon Johnson was viewed as highly supportive of Israel, but also concerned about the war in Southeast Asia.

Samuel Lewis is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff.

"We were, let us not forget, in Vietnam," said Lewis. "Our preoccupation as a nation was totally focused on Vietnam, just as it is focused on Iraq today."

During the war and with lightening speed, Israeli soldiers captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt. In less than a week, Israel tripled the territory under its control.

In 1979, Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt, returning the Sinai. Israel signed a second accord with Jordan in 1994.

Peace talks between Israel and Syria failed to produce any agreement.

The President of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, Wendy Chamberlin, says the concept behind those negotiations¹¹ is still valid¹².

"Introduction of land for peace was a significant contribution to the diplomacy¹³ that came out of the '67 War and it remains¹⁴ a key element of any Palestinian-Israeli discussion today," said Wendy Chamberlin.

Chamberlin says while the Six Day War did not create Palestinian militants¹⁶, the defeat of Arab armies and the 40-year Israeli occupation that followed, did lead to the rise of Islamic groups like Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"The '67 War provided the context for indignant Muslims to turn to Islam," she said. "They turned to Islam when the state failed to provide justice, when the U.N. could not enforce its own decisions. Palestinians turned to their religion out of desperation and unhappiness under occupation. They turned to Islam because of the failure of Arab states to protect or advance Palestinian interests or even to help them meet basic human needs."

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, although it continues to mount incursions into the territory when Palestinian militant¹⁵ groups fire rockets into Israeli territory.

Forty years after the Six Day War, more than 400,000 Jewish settlers live among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

4 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。

5 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 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

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 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。

10 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

13 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

14 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。

15 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。

16 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。