美国国家公共电台 NPR In Lebanon, Mile-Long Artwork Is A Sign Of Peace

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

In Lebanon, twin brothers welcomed the new year with a work of art nearly a mile long. Mohamed and Omar Kabbani are 34-year-old graffiti artists. They painted the rooftops of more than 80 buildings lime¹ green. Seen from above, the green roofs spell out salam, which means peace in Arabic. The brothers hope it will help change how people think of their home.

OMAR KABBANI: Whenever they talk about the Middle East or Lebanon, all they think about is extremism and terrorism. By painting a big word, salam, we want to show people that we're creative and positive things coming out from the Middle East. I think we made our goal happen.

SHAPIRO: Omar Kabbani joined us from Lebanon on Skype to explain how he and his brother Mohamed put this project together.

KABBANI: We had this idea almost three years ago, and we wanted to paint a big word that can be seen from space. We chose the northern part of Lebanon, an area - a region called Tripoli. It's the second biggest city in Lebanon.

There was, like, two fighting militias² fighting a small civil war between two areas, and we decided³ to go up and paint the word salam above this area in particular. We recruited⁴ 62 ex-militiamen or ex-fighters.

SHAPIRO: Wow.

KABBANI: So basically they dropped their guns and they started helping⁵ us with painting their own rooftops.

SHAPIRO: And I understand some of these buildings had bullet holes. Some of them were uninhabitable. You could really see the signs of the violence in this neighborhood.

KABBANI: Yeah. It was a battle zone. There's plenty of bullets. The buildings were on fire. So it was funny but sad at the same moment. Like, when we used to go up to scout⁶, they used to tell us, yeah, I used to sit here and point my sniper rifle. So...

SHAPIRO: Wow.

KABBANI: It was like a really true story. Like, people who lived violence and lived, like, war started going up to their rooftop without the fear of being shot.

SHAPIRO: I imagine that for some of these fighters who had sat on these rooftops with guns, to come back to those rooftops and paint them bright green to spell out the word peace must have been a very emotional experience.

KABBANI: It was very challenging for us. And it was challenging for them. We stayed there for three weeks. Every day, we go up. And you can hear their stories. And you know, like, they are in rock bottom, complete poverty. So whenever someone gives them, like - I don't know - a small amount of money, they would go and hold the gun and start shooting.

But if the people give them an opportunity to work, they will work. There are, like, really good-hearted people. They want to do something positive. And we used not just bright green paint - regular paint. We used, like - it's anti-leakage, and it prevents from - anti-UV also.

SHAPIRO: Oh, like waterproof⁷ and reflecting the sun, so it cools the houses and keeps them dry.

KABBANI: Yeah. So it has - so people were really happy that we're in a way fixing the rooftops, you know?

SHAPIRO: Has the crew actually seen the finished work of art - because you can really only see it from a drone. There are photographs, but you could be standing⁸ on one of these rooftops and not know that it's spelling out the word salam.

KABBANI: Yeah, of course. When we first briefed them about the project, we showed them what we were painting. And, like, every two days, we flew a drone to show them and for us to see the progress of the work. And of course, we showed them the end results.

SHAPIRO: Omar Kabbani, thanks a lot.

KABBANI: You're welcome.

SHAPIRO: Omar Kabbani, his brother Mohamed and their crew painted more than 80 rooftops in the Lebanese city of Tripoli to say salam - peace in Arabic. He's looking forward to Google updating its map images so everyone who searches for the city can see the artwork.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOBACCO'S "SPIRITS OF PERVERSION")

1 lime   

n.石灰，酸橙，酸橙树，粘鸟胶，钙；vt.施石灰，涂上粘性物质，沾上粘鸟胶

参考例句：

• Lime exists in many soils.许多土壤中都含有石灰。
• A broad avenue of lime trees led up to a grand entrance with huge oak doors.一条栽有酸橙树的宽阔林阴道通向巨大的橡木门的雄伟入口。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 recruited   

招聘( recruit的过去式和过去分词 )； 吸收某人为新成员； 动员…（提供帮助）； 雇用

参考例句：

• Were men for the Navy recruited from men on merchant ships? 海军的人员是从商船的人员中征募的吗？
• Most of the workers will be recruited locally. 大多数工人都会在本地招募。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

7 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。