VOA标准英语2009年-Palestinian Residents Brace for Demolition of H

Palestinians in East Jerusalem are protesting what they say are preparations by Israel to demolish¹ scores of Arab homes. The Arab residents accuse the Israelis of trying to push them out of Jerusalem, which both Israel and the Palestinians claim as their capital.

Ayda Risheq prepares her morning meal, and wonders if this will be her last day in this modest, concrete block home she shares with her husband and six children.

She says the demolition² could be today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. She does not know. She says crews came to the neighborhood this week, surveyed the area and saw how, with what tools and equipment, they could knock it down.

Risheq's is one of more than 80 families in this neighborhood near Jerusalem's Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa mosque³ whose homes Israel plans to tear down.
　
Palestinian youths watch a bulldozer destroy a house in the Silwan neighborhood of east Jerusalem, 5 Nov. 2008

Arabs have historically known the neighborhood as Silwan. In the past two decades, Jews have called it the City of David, a part of what thousands of years ago was the ancient Jewish capital.

The neighborhood has become a flashpoint in the fight over Jerusalem. Arab families like Ayda Risheq's inherited the land and built homes on it mostly in the years after the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, when Israel seized the land and annexed⁴ East Jerusalem in a move that has never been sanctioned by the international community.

Israeli authorities say the dwellings⁵, which largely went up without building permits, are illegal construction. For the past three years, the municipality has wanted the buildings demolished⁶ and turned into a park.

A few meters from the Risheq home, protesters have set up a tent where they have been staging a sit-in for months. Activist⁷ Abdel Halim Shaloudi, a member of the Committee for the Defense⁸ of the Territory of Silwan, believes the Israelis' real motive⁹ is to drive out the Arabs and make this a Jewish area.

"[There are] 88 houses, which include more than 2,000 people that live in it," he said. "They want to throw them out because King David was here more than 3,000 years ago and they want to make this King David's garden, according to their religion."

As with the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, religion, history, and land are at the heart of this dispute.

For residents like Ayda Risheq, being forced to leave her home is more than a matter of finding a new place to live. She said this is Muslim land and she believes it will always continue to be Muslim land. She said Jewish claims are only an excuse to drive people like her from the land.

Risheq and other residents have been hoping to avert¹⁰ the demolition by applying for building permits and offering to pay fines.

The Jerusalem municipal authorities, however, are showing no signs of budging¹¹. A statement by the mayor's office this week said no new orders have been issued on the matter of the neighborhood and affirmed that the area is not intended for residential¹² development, but rather for use as an open public space.

1 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

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 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。

4 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

5 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 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。

9 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

10 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

11 budging   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的现在分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Give it up, plumber. She's not budging. 别费劲了，水管工。她不会改变主意的。 来自互联网
• I wondered how Albert who showed no intention of budging, felt about Leopold's desertion. 对于从未有迁徙打算的艾伯特来说，我不知道它会怎样看待利奥波德这样弃它而去呢。 来自互联网

12 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。