VOA标准英语2009年-Israel Evicts More Than 50 Palestinians Fr

Israel evicted¹ dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem on Sunday. The move touches on one of the core issues of the Middle East conflict.
　
Israeli Jews enter a house after police evicted its Palestinian residents in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, 02 Aug 2009

Israeli police moved into the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in disputed East Jerusalem and forcibly removed more than 50 Palestinians from their homes. They were members of two families who have lived in the area for more than 50 years.

U.N. officials say they saw Jewish settlers moving in afterwards to occupy the houses.

"They [are] planning to take house by house, and they claim that they own all this neighborhood," said Maher Hannoun, one of the evicted Palestinians.

Police cited a ruling by Israel's Supreme² Court that the houses belong to Jews and that the Arab families had been living there illegally. The court backed Jewish settlers who produced documents showing that the property was legally purchased from its former Arab owner. But Hannoun called that "nonsense".

"I'm sure that later, they can't take any house from this neighborhood because our lawyer, he has all the documents to prove that another Palestinian owns this land," he said.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967 and claims the city as its capital. But the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The U.S. State Department condemned³ the evictions, saying "unilateral actions . . . cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations⁴ and will not be recognized by the international community."

Israel has rejected repeated U.S. demands for a freeze on settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, leading tensions with Washington. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the right of Jews to build and live anywhere in Jerusalem is not negotiable.

1 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 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。