美国国家公共电台 NPR--While Israel is in turmoil, tonight it marks its 75th Independence Day

While Israel is in turmoil¹, tonight it marks its 75th Independence Day

Transcript²

As Israel marks the 75th anniversary of its founding, the country is consumed by protests and debates over its unresolved identity.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Israel is marking its 75th Independence Day, and the country is in turmoil. It has its most ultranationalist religious government ever. Street protests have exposed deep internal divisions, and even after 75 years, there is no consensus³ over what kind of country Israel should be. NPR's Daniel Estrin brings us a portrait of Israelis reflecting on their future.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁴: Israeli protesters marched through a devout⁵ Jewish religious neighborhood a few weeks ago, wearing hard hats, worried they'd be pelted⁶ with eggs. Instead, they were greeted with religious music and engaged in debates.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

ESTRIN: I watch a military veteran tell a young ultra-Orthodox man he shouldn't be exempt⁷ from military service that secular⁸ Israelis have to perform. The ultra-Orthodox man says, just like the Army has special forces, studying Torah is my special contribution. As their country turns 75, Israelis are debating how their country can be a Jewish state and still offer equality for those who are secular or not even Jewish. I visited two families who reflect how, even among Jews, the country's identity is unresolved.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

ESTRIN: I met the Carmeli family on their porch in their kibbutz, one of the communal⁹ villages founded in Israel's early years by secular Jews.

KARIN CARMELI: This is - I think it's our next war. It's the independence war for the nonreligious people from the religious people. We've been serving them, fighting their wars, having our families' members killed for them, and for what? I'm not happy about this Independence Day.

ESTRIN: Karin Carmeli works in pharmaceuticals¹⁰. Her husband's in tech. They and their teenage daughters have been attending street protests against the far-right religious government.

K CARMELI: It's, like, a slippery slope. Iran was - in the '70s, it was a country like Israel. You see pictures. They were in swimming suits, women in swimming suits on the beach. They don't have it anymore. And it's happening in a blink of an eye that it happens.

ESTRIN: Many secular Jews see religious populations growing and worry they'll be sidelined. Last month, her husband, Alon, prepared a Plan B for the family in case they decide to leave.

ALON CARMELI: I just want to show you. You see, this is our new - this is my certificate that I'm a Romanian...

ESTRIN: Citizen.

A CARMELI: ...Citizen.

K CARMELI: This is our Plan B.

A CARMELI: You know?

K CARMELI: This is our Plan B.

ESTRIN: Alon's grandparents survived the Holocaust¹¹ and fled Europe to Israel. That informs his vision of what Israel should be.

A CARMELI: It's the place where Jews can be safe, secure, survive. But it's not only for Jews. That's what I'm saying. It's not a very popular statement today because people say this is the Jewish country. It's only for Jewish.

ESTRIN: His kibbutz is surrounded by Arab cities. Palestinian Arab citizens are a fifth of Israel's population. They face widespread discrimination, but he sees them as equals. Today, his kibbutz even has a rare Muslim member. He even says he could see himself voting for an Arab prime minister one day. We walk through their backyard.

A CARMELI: All the avocado fields here.

ESTRIN: And right across the fields is Israel's concrete separation wall with the West Bank, where Palestinians are under Israeli occupation. In about a month, Palestinians there will mark Israel's founding as the catastrophe¹² of their mass displacement¹³. They lack independence.

A CARMELI: See this wall? This is the whole story of Israel - why it's not open, why we need all those gates, walls and everything, you know? For me, it's a sad story, you know?

ESTRIN: We're staring at the Palestinian city across the wall where in his military days Alon laid surveillance infrastructure¹⁴ for Israeli intelligence. He says the solution is not military. It's negotiation¹⁵.

A CARMELI: And I'm not sure that we have people skilled enough in Israel who wants even to open their mind, speaking about and looking on a situation where wide open.

ESTRIN: Alon Carmeli has a friend in the city of Caesarea who thinks differently - Yaniv Benami (ph), who does sales for a big tech company.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Speaking Hebrew).

ESTRIN: He's been going to synagogue to recite prayers for his mother since she died recently. He's not religious, but he's trying to follow more Jewish traditions. He voted for a religious party, including far-right figures. He says he wishes Israel's far-right government would tone things down. But he also thinks the street protesters are exaggerating.

YANIV BENAMI: The red lines of each one of us is not that far away from each other. We want the Jewish country. We need to maybe improve it, but it's pretty free.

ESTRIN: What concerns him is changes in Israel's population, which pose unresolved challenges to Israel's Jewish character. In the military reserves, he apprehended¹⁶ African migrants fleeing to Israel. They're Muslim and Christian¹⁷.

BENAMI: I have arrested roughly 300, 400, 500. I could not remember. What happened is that all of them stayed here, having their own babies, which this is really a tragedy because their babies who have been born in Israel, have been raised in Israel, and now they speak Hebrew - they are not even aware that they are not Jews. Now, I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying that the demography¹⁸ is changing.

ESTRIN: And he's worried about the young generation of Arab citizens in Israel.

BENAMI: I'm trying not to generalize, but it looks like most of it do not accept Israel as Israel.

ESTRIN: But he does think a Jewish country can embrace its Arab citizens if they're willing to embrace it.

BENAMI: If you're with us, you're with us because we have - we want to survive together as a country together.

ESTRIN: And during the current upheaval¹⁹, he says, he took advice from his rabbi.

BENAMI: He's always saying, you know what I did? I stopped listening to the media.

ESTRIN: The media has been covering the street protests, and it's been reporting on fears of a civil war between Jews in the country, which he says won't happen. After all, he's still friends with Alon Carmeli, even during this politically divided time.

BENAMI: If there will be a war tomorrow against Iran - I don't know - what do you think would happen? Alon and me would not fight together against Iran? Of course. That's why we are brothers. Doesn't matter what we think.

ESTRIN: As the country marks Independence Day, Yaniv Benami is hanging a lot of Israeli flags on his house. It's his call for unity²⁰ in Israel.

Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Caesarea, Israel.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

6 pelted   

（连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮

参考例句：

• The children pelted him with snowballs. 孩子们向他投掷雪球。
• The rain pelted down. 天下着大雨。

7 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

8 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

9 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

10 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

12 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

13 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

16 apprehended   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解

参考例句：

• She apprehended the complicated law very quickly. 她很快理解了复杂的法律。
• The police apprehended the criminal. 警察逮捕了罪犯。

17 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

18 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

19 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

20 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。