VOA标准英语2010年-Radical Islamic Group Banned in Britai

The British government has banned an Islamic group under the country's counter-terrorism laws.  Islam4UK had planned to stage a march through the British town Wootton Bassett to honor Muslims killed in Afghanistan.

Britain's home secretary has announced that from Thursday it will be a criminal offense¹ to be part of the radical² Islamic Group Islam4UK or its "parent" organization, al-Muhajiroun.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the group has already been banned under two different aliases³ and had tried to escape the ban by changing its name. He said the move was needed in order to "tackle terrorism."

But Islam4UK leader Anjem Choudary told VOA the ban, made under the Terrorism Act 2000, is unfair because the group is not involved in violent activity.

"We are an ideological⁴ and political movement. We do not engage in any military activities or any violence," he said.

Islam4UK was originally founded in the 1980s under the name al-Muhajiroun. The tiny Islamic group has since won much publicity⁵ in Britain by threatening to carry out controversial demonstrations⁷.

Last week, the group announced plans for a march through Wooton Basset, a small market town where British soldiers killed in Afghanistan are honored, but the demonstration⁶ was called off on Sunday.

Choudary says by banning his group, the British government is undermining freedom of speech in Britain and discriminating⁸ against Muslims.

"If one looks at the Terrorism Act and the list of proscribed⁹ organizations, you will find that the majority of them in fact are Muslim based and they are involved in one way or another either in working to implement¹⁰ the Sharia or to liberate¹¹ Muslim land," he said.

Dr. Chris Allen is an Islam specialist and author based in Britain. He says the Terrorism Act does largely target Muslim groups, but this is because the legislation emerged as a result of terror attacks in the United States and Britain carried out by extremist Muslims. 

"The legislation which has come in has been on the back of looking at sort of Islam as a 'problem' - I use the word problem in speech - so yes, it has had a focus on Muslims but I think that it's in response to the legislation that was largely driven by the acts of a handful of unrepresentative Muslims," he said.

He says the majority of Muslims in Britain do not support extremist groups like Islam4UK, but he says many may see the ban as an unfair target against Muslims.

"And I think that could increase some support for groups such as Islam4UK, so I do think it's a very fine line that the government are actually currently walking," he said.

According to the Home Office, 15 people have been convicted of criminal offenses¹² related to banned groups since 2001. A total of 45 groups are listed on the Home Office Web site as banned under the Terrorism Act.

 

1 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 aliases   

n.别名，化名( alias的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you allow the user to enter aliases for the longer entries? 可以允许用户为过长的文字选择别名吗？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The criminal has several aliases. 该罪犯有数个化名。 来自辞典例句

4 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

5 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

8 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

9 proscribed   

v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. 根据联邦法律的规定，他们不准拥有枪支。 来自辞典例句
• In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. 从前，教会禁止跳舞和玩牌。 来自辞典例句

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

12 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法