VOA标准英语2015 Jordan's Religious Leaders: Injustice Recruits Islamic State Fighters

Jordan's Religious Leaders: Injustice¹ Recruits Islamic State Fighters

AMMAN—

As Jordanians rallied around the government's fight against the self-described Islamic State, religious leaders working to stop the spread of extremist ideology² warned that force alone will not slow the growth of the extremist group. 

Young people in the Jordanian capital, Amman, say they don’t understand the attraction to the militant³ group that calls itself the Islamic State. They suspect  Islamic State fighters must be paid well. Otherwise who would join?

Mohammad al-Salhy, a 16-year-old warming up for a football match in a park, said poor economies in the region are partially⁴ to blame.

He guessed that the Islamic State must pay about $1,400 a month, as opposed to the average Jordanian salary of about $400 a month, to draw recruits from among the poor.

But religious leaders said it’s definitely more than just money that drives young people to extremist groups.

Abdel Salam Fendi, the Imam of Amman's Salman Al Assaf mosque⁵, said  some societies nurture⁶ terrorism and extremism by hindering moderate Islamic groups.

He said some societies are intolerant of Muslims, driving people away from the mainstream⁷, moderate Islam. Other religious leaders said there are even more fundamental problems driving people towards extremism.

“Democracy, justice and freedom is the real way to fight these flare-ups and to fight extremism wherever it is," said Nimer al-Assaf, former chair of the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood⁸, a religious and political organization influential⁹ both in the government and the opposition¹⁰.

Al-Assaf said when there is justice, people "don’t need to rise up against anything, because generally, people like to live in peace.”

He said militant extremists like those in the Islamic State group will continue to attract recruits as long as people feel they are denied social justice.

Political reform, he added, must be coupled with religious reform to slow the growth of the extremist group. He said religious leaders should increase the availability of Islamic education because many of those recruits have simply been taught wrong.

"There should be amnesty for the people who withdraw from this organization," he said. "And also those who will give themselves up peacefully ... should go through an educational program because I honestly believe, some of those people are misguided.”

The patriotic¹¹ youth in the park, however, were less forgiving. Just before the footballers ran on to play, 14-year-old Rami el-Salaheen said the only thing the government should do is to protect the borders and fight back against Islamic State militants¹² abroad.

He said Islamic State fighters must be insane, unable to tell right from wrong. He added that it could also be that a criminal organization simply attracts criminal minds.

1 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

2 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

7 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。

8 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。