Israel’s Gaza blockade baffles residents 以色列的加薩走廊封鎖政策令居民困惑

◎俞智敏

Israel’s Gaza blockade baffles residents

以色列的加薩走廊封鎖政策令居民困惑

Military bureaucrats enforcing Israel’s blockade of Gaza allow frozen salmon filet, facial scrub and low-fat yogurt into the Hamas-ruled territory. Cilantro and instant coffee are another matter _ they are banned as luxury items.

負 責執行以色列對加薩走廊封鎖政策的軍方官僚准許冷凍鮭魚片、臉部去角質霜和低脂優格進入這塊由哈瑪斯組織統治的地區。香菜和即溶咖啡卻是另一回事──它們 被列為禁運的奢侈品。

Over the past three years, Israel has determined down to the tiniest detail what gets into the Gaza Strip and to its population of 1.5 million, using secret guidelines to differentiate between humanitarian necessities and nonessential luxuries in its blockade meant to squeeze the Islamic militant group Hamas.

過去三年 來，以色列決定了所有能夠運進加薩走廊及其150萬居民手中的大小物品，並且使用秘密準則來區分人道救援必需品及非必要奢侈品，這項封鎖令的目的是要對伊 斯蘭好戰組織哈瑪斯施壓。

The results are often baffling. "Frozen salmon _ we never had it before the blockade," said perplexed salesman Abed Nasser.

結 果經常令人感到困惑 。「冷凍鮭魚──在封鎖令開始前，我們根本就沒有這種東西，」不解的商人納薩爾表示。

Critics have long maintained that Israel’s blockade has not just been confusing, but counterproductive. The blockade has failed to dislodge Hamas and has hurt Gaza’s poor and blocked reconstruction after Israel’s devastating three-week military offensive two years ago.

批評者向來主張，以色列的封鎖令不但令人困 擾，而且根本適得其反。封鎖令非但未能把哈瑪斯逐出加薩，反而重創加薩的窮人，同時阻擋加薩在兩年前遭以軍發動三週毀滅性攻擊後的重建工作。

新聞辭典

luxury：名詞，指奢侈、奢華時為不可數名詞，如They live in luxury.（他們生活豪奢。）指奢侈品、享受或樂趣時為可數名詞，如I like to buy myself little luxuries from time to time.（我喜歡偶爾給自己買一點奢侈品。）

counterproductive：形容詞，指適得其反的、造 成不良後果的，如Improved safety measures in cars can be counterproductive as they encourage people to drive faster.（改良汽車安全設備恐造成反效果，因為這反而可能鼓勵人開快車。）

dislodge： 動詞，指用力設法移動、逐出、取出，如We need two wins to dislodge the French team from first place.（我們得連贏兩場才能把法國隊擠下第一名寶座。）