VOA慢速英语:What the Arab, Europe Protests Have in Common

Experts say political unrest in the Arab World and protests in Europe have more in common than it may seem.
专家称，在阿拉伯世界的政治动荡和欧洲的抗议活动之间的共同点比表面看看到的更多。

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The "Arab S*" pro-democracy movement began in Tunisia. Protests forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign in January.
“阿拉伯*”的民主运动始于突尼斯。抗议活动迫使本．阿里总统在一月份辞职。

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A short time later, protests in Egypt forced out President Hosni Mubarak, another longtime Arab leader.
不久之后，埃及的抗议活动推翻了阿拉伯世界另外一位长期在位的领导人，穆巴拉克总统。

Mary Kaldor was part of the opposition movement in Hungary during the Cold War. She is now a professor of global governance at the London School of Economics.
冷战时期，Mary Kaldor是匈牙利反对派运动中的一员。她现在是伦敦经济学院全球统治方面的一名教授。

MARY KALDOR: "People assumed that somehow the Middle East was different and that was based on assumptions that somehow Islam is different -- 'It’s not like us.' And that was an assumption that underpinned the war on terror, too. And I think what’s so wonderful about the Arab S* is that it’s disproving that assumption. It’s showing that Arabs are just as democratic as everyone else."
MARY KALDOR：“人们假设中东地区从某种程度上来说是不同的，这是基于一种假设，伊斯兰是不同的——‘他们跟我们不同。’在打击恐怖主义的战争中，而我认为阿拉伯*的精彩之处在于它驳斥了这种假设。它展示了阿拉伯人和其他人一样民主。”

As the Arab S* grew, protests also began in parts of Europe.
随着阿拉伯*的抗议运动的发展，欧洲部分地区也开始了抗议活动。

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In Athens, thousands protested cuts in government spending and other budget reforms. Protesters occupied Syntagma Square outside Greece’s Parliament. Professor Kaldor says the anger was similar to what the Arab demonstrators felt.
在雅典，数千人抗议削减政府开支和其他预算改革。抗议者占领了希腊议会外的宪法广场。Kaldor称，他们的愤怒与阿拉伯的示威者的感受是相似的。

MARY KALDOR: "It’s all about, I think, a failure of representation, a feeling that the political class is one class, 'We can’t influence them, it’s outrageous that they’re suddenly saying that we have to pay for what the banks did.' And I think that there’s a similar feeling of outrage in the Arab world. So I think there are very many similarities between what’s happening in Europe and what’s happening in the Arab world."
MARY KALDOR：“我认为，这都和代表性的失败有关，政治阶层是一个阶层，‘我们不能影响他们，他们突然说，我们必须为银行的所作所为买单，这令人非常气愤。’我认为阿拉伯世界的人们也是同样的愤怒感。因此，我认为，欧洲所发生的事情和阿拉伯世界所发生的动荡之间有很多相似之处。”

In Spain, protesters occupied the Puerta del Sol square in central Madrid, copying the earlier protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
在西班牙，抗议者占领在马德里市中心的太阳门广场，复制了之前开罗解放广场的抗议活动。

In London, British protesters demonstrated earlier this year against their government's cost-cutting measures. Owen Tudor is international secretary for the Trades Union Congress in Britain.
在伦敦，英国的抗议者在今年早些时候举行了示威活动，反对政府的削减开支的措施。Owen Tudor是英国工会的国际秘书。

OWEN TUDOR: "I think there are clear differences for what’s going on in different countries. We’re talking about democracies in Europe, dictatorships across much of North Africa. But many of the causes of what’s happened have been very similar. It’s about the economic crisis."
OWEN TUDOR：“我认为在不同国家发生的事情都有明显的差异。我们讨论的是欧洲的民主，而在北非大部分地区说的是独裁。但是造成这一切发生的原因很相似，那就是经济危机。”

Israel recently had some of its largest demonstrations ever. Israelis have criticized housing costs, wages, taxes and rising prices for food and fuel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising economic reforms but has failed to satisfy social activists.
以色列最近爆发了有史以来规模最大的示威活动。以色列人抨击房价，工资，税收以及不断上涨的食品燃料价格。内塔尼亚胡总理承诺进行经济改革，但是并无法让社会活动家满意。

Some observers see the Arab S* coming to a halt in Libya and Syria. But Professor Kaldor says the protests have already changed the Arab world.
一些观察员表示阿拉伯*活动将在利比亚和叙利亚结束。但是Kaldor教授称，抗议活动确实已经改变了阿拉伯世界。

MARY KALDOR: "Nineteen eighty-nine brought an end to the Cold War. I think what twenty-eleven did was to sideline the war on terror. It marginalized al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden may have been physically killed in Pakistan, but he’s been politically killed by the demonstrations in the Middle East."
MARY KALDOR：“冷战在1989年结束。我认为2011年将使反恐战争边缘化，将基地组织边缘化。本．拉登在巴基斯坦被消灭，但是他的政治意图也在中东地区的示威活动中被消灭。”

The protests in the Arab world might never have amounted to much without the use of social media to help organize protests.
如果没有社交媒体来帮忙组织抗议活动，阿拉伯世界的抗议可能永远也不能达到现在这种程度。

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The Pearl Roundabout traffic circle in Manama became Bahrain’s own version of Tahrir Square. Protesters, mostly Shi’ite Muslims, set up camp and demanded reforms. Bahrain's minority Sunni government, with military help from neighboring nations, violently suppressed the uprising.
麦纳珍珠广场的交通圈成为巴林版本的解放广场。抗议者大部分是什叶派穆斯林，他们在这里安营扎寨，并要求改革。巴林少数派逊尼派政府得到了周边国家的军事帮助，暴力镇压了起义。

Today, many Bahrainis say they are afraid to use social media. Abdulnabi Alekry is chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society. He says the government's use of social media to help identify opponents has pushed the country’s Sunnis and Shi’ites farther apart.
今天，许多巴林人说他们害怕使用社交媒体。Abdulnabi Alekry是巴林社会透明组织的主席。他说政府使用社交媒体来帮助确认敌人的身份，导致逊尼派和什叶派的分化进一步加剧。

ABDULNABI ALEKRY: "It is causing a lot of damage to the national unity and it is causing even suspicion between people who work together or live together or are in the same society or club. It is a source of concern."
ABDULNABI ALEKRY：“这对全国团结造成极大破坏，甚至使同事之间，邻里之间，各类组织的会员之间互不信任。这是一大隐患。”

Al-Jazeera television recently showed how a Facebook page helped lead officials to a twenty-year-old Shi’ite woman. Visitors to the page were asked to identify her "and let the government take care of the rest." She was reportedly arrested and tortured.
半岛电视台最近播放了Facebook网页如何使帮助官员追踪到一名20岁的什叶派女子。该页面的访客被要求辨别她的身份，让政府来做其他的事情。据报道称她已经被捕并遭受了酷刑。

Bahrain is not the only country said to be using social media to find government opponents. Syrian security forces have also been accused of using sites like Facebook and Twitter to identify activists.
据称巴林并不是唯一一个利用社交媒体来寻找政府敌人的国家。叙利亚安全部队也被指控使用Facebook和Twitter等网站来辨别活动人士。