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191 专家表示反美情绪在中东蔓延
Experts Say Anti-American Sentiment Growing in Middle East
Ed Warner
Washington
18 Jul 2001 00:05 UTC
Anti-Americanism is rising throughout the Middle East as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Observers say Arab opinion is 1)outraged over the perceived U.S. 2)bias in favor of Israel, despite the far larger loss of life by Palestinians. How will this hardening 3)attitude affect the conflict and U.S. interests in the region?
Opinion is 4)solidifying in the Middle East against the United States, says William Rugh, former U.S. ambassador to Arab countries and now President of Amideast, a 5)nonprofit educational organization.
He has recently returned from the region with some troubling news that he feels is not adequately reported in the American news media. "It is clear to me from my travels in the Middle East that throughout the region there is a great deal of 6)criticism of American policy toward the Middle East and in particular on the Arab-Israeli conflict," he said. "They believe this is an unfair contest, that Israel is 7)provoking the conflict, and this is quite different from the American 8)perception, which is based on American media reports which have a very different 9)portrayal of what is going on in the West Bank and Gaza."
Ambassador Rugh says newspapers and television in the Middle East provide graphic coverage of the deaths of Palestinians and the destruction of homes by Israeli bulldozers. In his opinion, nothing creates more anti-Americanism than the sight of Israelis using advanced U.S. weaponry against Palestinians, who are throwing stones or simply demonstrating.
The people of the region had high hopes for the Bush Administration, says Ambassador Rugh. They are disappointed that in their view there has been no change of U.S. policy. "They do not see any evidence that the new Bush administration is any more even handed than the Clinton Administration was," he said. "In fact, by not being involved as much in the 10)negotiations toward a peaceful settlement, they see the Bush Administration as allowing the Israeli hard-liners to 11)suppress the Palestinian revolution."
Palestinian hard-liners are 12)inciting the anti-Americanism, 13)contends Robert Lieber, Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
He says the Palestinian Authority is spreading false 14)accusations against Israel, charging it, for example, with 15)handing out poisoned candy to Palestinian children or 16)contaminating the Palestinian water supply. Gullible people believe this 17)atrocious 18)propaganda, says Professor Lieber, and by inference blame Israel's chief supporter, the United States.
He thinks much of the anti-Americanism is contrived. "In some instances," he said, "national leaders who lead dictatorial, repressive regimes rather than reform and meet the needs of their people for a decent standard of life seek to 19)divert the attention of their populations through 20)whipping up 21)frenzied propaganda about the outside world or about some sort of foreign devil - Israel or the United States or indeed the western world."
But these 22)regimes are also under pressure from their people, says UPI editor at large Arnaud De Borchgrave, who has covered the Middle East for half a century. Arab populations now have 23)access to news of their region as never before and react passionately to it.
"There is no question that the 24)moderate regimes that are traditionally pro-American Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan have been largely silenced by the streets of these capitals, who are increasingly pro-Saddam Hussein, for instance," said Mr. De Borchgrave. Saddam 25)emerges from many of these ill-educated masses as a new Saladin, and one day this new Saladin is going to liberate Palestine. There is a lot of that kind of talk."
There is also talk of Arab states acquiring nuclear weapons, says Mr. de Borchgrave. Their people ask: why should only Israel have them? And that kind of talk, says Mr. De Borchgrave, should serve as a wake-up call to the United States to develop a 26)comprehensive policy for the region that will allay Arab fears.
(1) outrage[5aJtreIdV]n.暴行, 侮辱, 愤怒vt.凌辱, 引起...义愤
(2) bias[5baIEs]n.偏见, 偏爱, 斜线vt.使存偏见
(3) attitude[5AtItju:d; (?@) 5AtItud]n.姿势, 态度, 看法, 意见
(4) solidify[sE5lIdIfaI]v.(使)凝固, (使)团结, 巩固
(5) nonprofit adj.非赢利的, 不以赢利为目的的
(6) criticism[5krItIsIz(E)m]n.批评, 批判
(7) provoke[prE5vEJk]vt.激怒, 挑拨, 煽动, 惹起, 驱使
(8) perception[pE5sepF(E)n]n.理解,感知,感觉
(9) portrayal[pC:5treIEl]n.描画, 描写
(10) negotiation[nI^EJFI5eIF(E)n]n.商议, 谈判, 流通
(11) suppress[sE5pres]vt.镇压, 抑制, 查禁, 使止住
(12) incite[In5saIt]vt.激动, 煽动
(13) contend[kEn5tend]v.斗争, 竞争, 主张
(14) accusation[Akju:zeIF(E)n]n.谴责, [律]指控
(15) hand out v.把...拿出来, 分发, 施舍
(16) contaminate[kEn5tAmIneIt]v.污染
(17) atrocious[E5trEJFEs]adj.残暴的, 凶恶的
(18) propaganda[prRpE5^AndE]n.宣传
(19) divert[daI5v:t]v.转移, 转向, 使高兴
(20) whip up v.鞭打
(21) frenzied[`frenzId]adj.狂热的, 激怒的, 狂乱的
(22) regime[reI5Vi:m]n.政体, 政权, 政权制度
(23) access to有权使用
(24) moderate[5mRdErEt]adj.中等的,适中的v.缓和
(25) emerge[I5m:dV]vi.显现, 浮现, (事实)显现出来
(26) comprehensive[kRmprI5hensIv]adj.广泛的, 能充分理解的, 包容的
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