2007年VOA标准英语-UN Official: Gaza Could Become Breeding Ground

By Meredith Buel
Washington
19 June 2007

The chief United Nations coordinator¹ of humanitarian² assistance to the Palestinians is warning the Gaza Strip could become a breeding ground for more extremist groups if the already impoverished³ people living there fall into even greater destitution⁴.  David Shearer⁵ made the remarks during a visit to Washington and VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details.

militants7 pose as they stand at the desk of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City, 15 Jun 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070629/0819250.jpg" width="184" vspace="2" border="0" />

Hamas militants pose as they stand at the desk of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City, 15 Jun 2007

For the past four years Shearer has served as the U.N. coordinator of humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and Gaza.

He told a forum⁸ in Washington that the 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza should not be cut off from the outside world following the violent takeover of the territory by the militant⁶ Islamist group Hamas.

"The more impoverished that Gaza becomes, it is the most impoverished place, and the less hope that people have the more fertile ground there is for additional extremism," he noted⁹.  "This is not going to confine itself just to Gaza.  It is going to break out in other directions as well and ultimately impact Israel."

After the Gaza takeover, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismantled¹⁰ his Fatah group's coalition¹¹ government with Hamas and installed a new cabinet.  Hamas has refused to acknowledge the legitimacy¹² of the new government.

The rift¹³ has, in effect, left the Palestinians with two governments - one in the West Bank that seeks peace with Israel and the Hamas leadership in Gaza, which is dedicated¹⁴ to destroying the Jewish state.

A small convoy¹⁵ of trucks carrying food and medical supplies entered Gaza Tuesday, the first such deliveries since Hamas took control after violent street battles last week.

Shearer says there needs to be at least 200 trucks per day going into Gaza to provide enough provisions to meet the needs of local people.

"The complications of that are that Israel doesn't want to deal with Hamas," he added.  "Fatah doesn't necessarily want to help Hamas either.  So at the moment we are in a transition period where people are trying to sort out their various policies towards each other in the new environment.  But we have a pretty tight timeline in terms of being able to work that out."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, looks at newly-appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad,  Ramallah, Sunday, 17 June 2007

Western nations have rallied behind Mr. Abbas and are promising¹⁶ renewed aid for the West Bank and money to help the U.N. provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

The United States and Israel are expected to try to further isolate¹⁷ Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily.

Shearer says with 88 percent of the Palestinians in Gaza living in poverty, more humanitarian aid needs to be delivered soon.

"People in Gaza need to be supported now," he explained.  "They need to realize that their interests are the same interests of other Palestinians in the West Bank.  The international community cares about them.  There are people out there watching and they are trying to help the situation.  I think that would give them enormous support.  I think it would cut off many of the other more extremist elements that would like to try and capitalize on the current situation."

Israel is expected to tighten¹⁸ its economic hold on Gaza, choking off all but basic supplies. 

Western officials are also pressing Egypt to secure its border with Gaza to block weapons and cash from being smuggled¹⁹ through tunnels to Hamas fighters.

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 destitution   

n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷

参考例句：

• The people lived in destitution. 民生凋敝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His drinking led him to a life of destitution. 酗酒导致他生活贫穷。 来自辞典例句

5 shearer   

n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机

参考例句：

• A bad shearer never had a good sickle. 拙匠无利器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eventually, Shearer lost faith, dropping him to the bench. 最终，希勒不再信任他，把他换下场。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

13 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

14 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

15 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

16 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

17 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

18 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

19 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网