欧洲－欧洲的穆斯林

Europe's Muslims

欧洲的穆斯林

 

European leaders are watching with apprehension¹ the violence spread across districts of France that are heavily populated by disaffected² Muslims, in what European media call the "French intifada". The riots that have shaken France and stunned³ the continent have been carried out mostly by African and Arab teenagers who see themselves as victims of racial and religious prejudice.

 

Most of France's Muslims live in poor neighborhoods separate from the white Christian⁴ mainstream⁵, in suburbs often rife⁶ with crime and seething⁷ anger. Unemployment in these communities is 20 %, double the national average. It's more than 30 % among 21-to-29-year-olds.

 

Alienated⁸ Muslim Youth

 

But to most observers, young Muslims from the slums outside of Paris, Lyon and Marseilles are no more alienated than those living on the outskirts⁹ of many other European cities. In 2001, riots erupted in several towns in northern England. The following year, Muslim neighborhoods in Antwerp, Belgium swelled¹¹ with violence. Since the unrest in France, suspected copycat torching of cars have taken place in Berlin and Bremen, as well as Brussels.

 

Western Europe is home to roughly 20 million Muslims. The largest concentration -- about five million -- live in France. Belgium, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy also have large populations of Muslims.

 

According to Charles Kupchan, Director of Europe Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, at the center of the problem is an uneasy relationship between primarily Muslim immigrant communities and the dominant¹² white Christian populations. He says it stems from a long history in Europe of identifying nationhood with ethnicity.

 

Charles Kupchan: Even though in France on the books you have a civic¹⁴ definition of citizenship¹⁵, there is still a tendency among the French and other European countries to believe that the national community has an ethnic¹³ component¹⁶. And that has left immigrants feeling as if they are second-class citizens, somewhat isolated¹⁷ from the socio-economic mainstream. And you couple that sense of isolation¹⁸ with economic immobility and, I think, you get a huge amount of frustration¹⁹ that is now breaking out into violence.

 

Other analysts²⁰ point out that unlike immigrants who flocked to resource rich continent-size America, Muslim newcomers to Western Europe risk crowding smaller, ethnically²¹ and culturally homogenous²² states.

 

Robert Leiken, Director of the Immigration and National Security Program at the Nixon Center in Washington, adds that the immigration of Muslims, which took place in the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s, created communities with customs, traditions and a religion that often did not fit seamlessly into Europe.

 

Robert Leiken: It is usually the second generation that is really the key. They are the kids who go to school and in the school learn to mix with other kids and become part of the French, or the American or the British nation. And that's not happening here. One thing is the schools are pretty much segregated²⁴. Not intentionally²⁵, but that's a result. The other is that sometimes the kids feel less of an identity than their parents. They often feel that they are not French, because the French society does not really accept them, nor are they Moroccan of Algerian. If they were to go back to Algeria, they would find a Third World country that they would not be comfortable in, that they would be considered a tourist in."

 

Polarized Society

 

Mr. Leiken contends that street-violence and intolerance threaten to further polarize immigrant Muslim and majority populations across Europe.

 

Robert Leiken: It is a huge crisis because it is not a problem that is going to be solved in any foreseeable future. You have societies, which are not immigrant societies. Not nations of immigrants the United States considers itself to be or Australia or some other places that are not used to absorbing immigrants and you have an immigrant cohort that has resistance in integrating. So you have the gravitational forces moving in the wrong direction.

 

Although most analysts agree there isn't evidence that radical²⁷ Islam is influencing the rioting in France, they caution that unintegrated and unemployed²⁸ Muslim communities in Western Europe could become incubators of Islamic extremism.

 

Islamic Revivalism

 

Dieter Dettke is Director of the Washington office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation that supports education, research and international cooperation. He says European nations have failed to find the right immigration policy, which would focus more on integration²⁹ and less on welfare programs. But he adds worldwide Islamic revivalism is a daunting³⁰ obstacle and notes the rejection³¹ of western democratic values by Islamic extremists like Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States.

 

Dieter Dettke: We have to face the reality of a revitalization of Islam that reaches out to European societies and wherever people of Muslim faith are. Let's not forget that Mohammed Atta and others planned what they did in Germany, in a democratic surrounding and were radicalized in a totally democratic environment. But can you blame Europe for this? I doubt it. You have a phenomenon here with roots that are more in Islam than in Europe.

 

Still, most observers hope that Europe will be able to borrow from the American model of tolerance²⁶ and inclusion for the successful assimilation of immigrants into mainstream society regardless of their religious, ethnic or national origin.

 

For focus, I’m Jela De Franceschi.

 

注释：

apprehension [Apri5henF(E)n] n. 忧虑；担心

disaffected [disE5fektid] adj. （对政府）；愤愤不平的

intifada [inti5fB:dE] n. 起义，暴动

prejudice [5predVudis] n. 偏见

rife [raif] adj. （与with连用）充满……的

seething [5si:TiN] adj. 沸腾的，火热的

Lyon [5laiEn] n. 里昂（法国城市）

Marseilles [mB:5seilz] n. 马赛（法国东南部港市）

alienated [5eiljEneitid] adj. 疏离的

outskirts [5autskE:ts] n. 边界，（尤指）市郊

Antwerp [5AntwE:p] n. 安特卫普（比利时省份）

swell¹⁰ [swel] v. （使）膨胀，增大

copycat [5kRpikAt] n. 盲目的模仿者

ethnicity [eW5nisiti] n. 种族划分

segregate²³ [5se^ri^eit] v. 隔离

polarize [5pEulEraiz] v. （使）两极分化

foreseeable [fC:5si:Ebl] adj. 可预知的，能预测的

incubator [5inkjubeitE] n. 培养的器具

assimilation [E7simi5leiFEn] n. 同化，同化作用

1 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

2 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

7 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

8 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

10 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

11 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

12 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

17 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

18 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

19 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。

20 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

21 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

22 homogenous   

adj.同类的，同质的，纯系的

参考例句：

• Japan is a wealthy,homogenous,developed nation with a stable political system.日本是一个富裕的同质型发达国家，政治体制稳定。
• My family is very homogenous and happy.我们这个家庭很和睦很幸福。

23 segregate   

adj.分离的，被隔离的；vt.使分离，使隔离

参考例句：

• We have to segregate for a few day.我们得分离一段日子。
• Some societies still segregate men and women.有的社会仍然将男女隔离。

24 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

25 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

26 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。

27 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。

28 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

29 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

30 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

31 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。