联合国种族主义大会--犹太人和穆斯林没有硝烟的战场

Jewish, Muslim Flareups Taking Center Stage At Racism¹ Conference

Challiss McDonough

Durban, South Africa

30 Aug 2001 19:09 UTC

 

The World Conference Against Racism has not even started yet in Durban, South Africa, but there already have been several flare-ups between Jewish and Muslim groups. Hope is 1)dwindling that the two groups will use the conference as an opportunity to talk about their differences.

For the second day, a shouting match 2)erupted between Muslims and Jews over the situation in the Middle East. It happened at a related forum² for non-governmental organizations in Durban, South Africa.

Several Jewish groups called a news conference to discuss what they called the 3)hijacking of the racism conference 4)agenda³. But a small group of people from Iran began shouting at the speakers.

One onlooker⁴ 5)burst into tears at the scene. She said she was upset at the 6)emotion and 7)bitterness that always seems to erupt whenever people try to discuss the Middle East.

The protesters insist that 8)Zionism equals 9)racism, and that Israel is an 10)apartheid state.

Those allegations have been at the heart of a 11)thorny debate over the racism conference agenda for the past several months.

The United States has chosen not to send Secretary of State Colin Powell to Durban because it objects to the what it calls anti-Israeli 12)rhetoric in the declaration⁵ due to be adopted at the end of the conference.

Eleven months of unrest in Israel and the occupied territories have fueled the already contentious⁶ debate. Some had hoped that both sides could use the racism conference to discuss their differences and move toward a solution. But at the grassroots level, that seems unlikely.

A leader of the South African Union of Jewish Students, David Kramer, says he is willing to listen to the other side. "My thoughts are this is a conference to speak to each other, this is a conference for dialogue," he said. "Every time Jews want to get up and speak at this conference we have the exact same thing happening, where they come in, they barge⁷ in and start shouting at us. And you're not going to achieve anything. This is a conference to speak, to find solutions. Shouting at each other is not going to get anywhere."

But4 some Palestinians say the Israelis are trying to distract⁸ attention away from their own human rights abuses. Tayseer Arouri is a Palestinian from Ramallah. He is in Durban representing the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center.

"I think it's something usual for international conferences. Every group, of course, tries to defend its position, whether it is on the right track or otherwise," he said. "And this is he case with the Israelis. The Israelis are occupying force. And they are trying to use this international conference to show as if they are the 13)victims and not the victimizers."

The World Conference on Racism begins Friday and lasts for one week. Thousands of 14)delegates are expected to 15)participate from around the world.

 

 

(1)      dwindle[5dwInd(E)l]v.缩小

(2)      erupt[I5rQpt]vt.喷出vi.爆发

(3)      hijack[5haIdVAk]vt.抢劫, 劫持, 劫机, 揩油

(4)      agenda[E5dVendE]n.pl.议程

(5)      burst into tears突然大哭

(6)      emotion[I5mEJF(E)n]n.情绪, 情感, 感情

(7)      bitterness[5bItEnIs]n.苦味, 辛酸, 苦难

(8)      zionism[5zaIEnIz(E)m]n.犹太复国主义,犹太复国运动

(9)      racism n.种族主义, 人种偏见, 种族歧视

(10)      apartheid[E5pB:theIt]n.(南非)种族隔离

(11)      thorny[5WC:nI]adj.多刺的, 痛苦的

(12)      rhetoric[5retErIk]adj.花言巧语的

(13)      victim[5vIktIm]n.受害人, 牺牲者, 牺牲品

(14)      delegate[5delI^Et]n.代表vt.委派...为代表

(15)      participate[pB:5tIsIpeIt]vi.参与, 参加, 分享, 分担

 

 

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 agenda   

n.议事日程，记事册

参考例句：

• We now proceed to the next item on the agenda.我们现在着手讨论下一项议题。
• If there is no objection,the agenda is adopted.如果没有意见，议程就通过了。

4 onlooker   

n.旁观者，观众

参考例句：

• A handful of onlookers stand in the field watching.少数几个旁观者站在现场观看。
• One onlooker had to be restrained by police.一个旁观者遭到了警察的制止。

5 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

6 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

7 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

8 distract   

vt.分散注意力，转移注意力，使分心

参考例句：

• Don't distract my attention.不要分散我的注意力。
• It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims.那纯粹是障眼法,用以分散人们对他真正意图的注意力。