VOA常速英语2019--美国谴责伊拉克迫害宗教自由（在线收听）

A great deal is lost to history, culture, and economic development when a country does not protect its minority religions and ethnic groups. Sadly, this is what happened in Iraq when government persecution there drove hundreds of thousands of Jews from the country in the early 1950s.

历史、文化、经济发展会损失重大，除非一个国家能保护少数派宗教和种族。可悲的是，伊拉克却没有做到这一点，因为伊拉克政府的迫害迫使无数犹太人在20世纪50年代初期逃离了这里。

Speaking at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, U.S. Agency for International Development Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick said Jewish Iraqis were driven from their homes to such an extent that an ancient part of the country’s cultural and religious landscape is now essentially extinct:

在促进宗教自由部长级会议上，美国国际开发署（USAID）副署长邦妮表示，伊拉克的犹太人被从自己家园驱逐出去，其程度之恶劣让伊拉克文化和宗教中自古流传的一部分都缺失了：

There is no longer a significant Jewish community in Iraq, a land in which some of the most significant Jewish scriptures were originally scribed. There is no longer a significant Jewish community in Iraq, a community that once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, because the Iraqi government terrorized its Jewish population and forced them to flee, not just their homes and businesses, but the country of their birth.

伊拉克现在已经不再有庞大的犹太社群了，但这片领土曾是某些最伟大犹太经文的誊抄地。伊拉克现在已经不再有庞大的犹太社区内了，虽然曾经有无数犹太人在这里，因为伊拉克政府对犹太人实施了恐怖统治，迫使他们逃离，他们不知放弃了家园和生意，也离开了祖国。

The persecution of Jews is often a warning sign of more widespread persecution of religious minorities, said Deputy Administrator Glick:

犹太人受到的迫害警醒我们更广泛的宗教少数群体迫害，邦妮如是说道。

They’ve been persecuted across the millennia beginning with the Romans and moving into modern times. Today we see anti-Semitism around the world ranging in places from Buenos Aires, Argentina; to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; to Paris, France, and beyond. And if nothing else stands as a witness to what happens when religious intolerance is allowed to run free -- it’s the Jewish experience.

即使过了千禧年，这种迫害依然在持续——从罗马人开始，一直持续到现代。如今，我们看到世界各地都有反犹太主义的存在，从阿根廷的布宜诺斯艾利斯到宾夕法尼亚的匹兹堡，再到法国巴黎，甚至更多的地方。如果说当宗教偏执大行其道的时候没人愿意作证的话，那这就是犹太人的体验。

The world cannot afford to be silent today as religious communities of Jews, Christians, Yazidis, Muslims, Sikhs, and others are victimized, often by their own fellow citizens, said Deputy Administrator Glick.

这个世界不能再沉默了，因为许多宗教社群，如犹太、基督、雅兹迪、穆斯林、锡克等都成为了受害者，邦妮如是说道。

Thomas Jefferson is often credited with saying that The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. That is the hard reality we face today, said Ms. Glick. We must remain vigilant.

托马斯·杰斐逊有一句话经常为人所称赞，自由的代价是永恒的警觉。这也是我们今天面临的现实。我们必须保持警觉。

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. And it is critical for the world, said Deputy Administrator Glick, not to be indifferent to the plight of people who are oppressed simply because of their faiths.

诺贝尔和平奖获得者、大屠杀幸存者埃利·维瑟尔表示，爱的对立面并不是恨，而是冷漠。邦妮说，有一件事对全球来说很重要——不要对那些因为有信仰而受到压迫的人的疾苦漠不关心。