2006年VOA标准英语-Study Puts Politics, Not Religion, at Heart of

By Steve Mort
Istanbul
14 December 2006
 
watch Alliance of Civilizations

A new study says politics -- rather than religion -- is at the heart of a growing divide between the West and the Muslim world. The yearlong study was carried out by the "Alliance of Civilizations", a group made up of leading political and religious figures. The findings are due to be discussed at a high-level summit in Rio de Janeiro next year. The initiative, spearheaded by Spain and Turkey, was launched at the United Nations in 2004, with the aim of countering radical¹ Islam.

The "Alliance of Civilizations" panel includes 20 prominent figures but has one central message.  The tensions between the Muslim and Western worlds are broadly political and, therefore, solvable.

 
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation² Commission.

"We can immediately remove from consideration the fact that there is a clash of civilizations. There isn't anything of that kind. It is that people are upset in different parts of the world because of how things have been ordered. And most of the causes for the tensions, for the hostilities³, are political and economic, rather than cultural or stemming from civilization."

One of the report's main conclusions is that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is key to bridging the divide between East and West.

 
Kofi Annan
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who commissioned the study, backs its calls for a regional Mideast conference and a white paper on solving the crisis. "As long as the Palestinians live under occupation exposed to daily frustration⁴ and humiliation⁵ and as long as Israelis are blown up in buses and in dance halls, so long will passions everywhere be inflamed⁶."

The report says passions have been inflamed since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent events in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The report says both Muslim and Western extremist groups have tried to further stoke these passions.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu says a wide range of steps is needed to tackle the problem. "The Secretary General of the UN was quite clear that he didn't want for this so-called high-level group to be a talk-shop, that we had to make specific recommendations which could be implemented⁷ and I think we've done that. It's in areas such as youth, the media, migration⁸, education."

The "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative, set up following riots in Muslim areas of Paris and protests over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, recommends more youth exchange programs between the United States and the Middle East, greater tolerance⁹ for immigrants, and respect for religion within the media.

It also calls for a special UN representative to be appointed to help defuse crises.

The group's report was launched in Istanbul, the geographical¹⁰ bridge between Europe and Asia.  Brazil will host a summit in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the findings.

1 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。

2 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

3 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

4 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

5 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

6 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

10 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。