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ZakEbrahim_2014-_我的父亲是恐怖分子，但我选择了和平_
On November 5th, 1990, a man named El-Sayyid Nosair walked into a hotel in Manhattan and assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane, the leader of the Jewish Defense League . 一位名叫埃尔·塞伊德·诺塞尔的男子 走入曼哈顿的一间宾馆 刺杀了拉比梅厄?卡赫纳, 犹太防卫联盟的首领。
assassinated:v.(尤为政治目的)暗杀,行刺(assassinate的过去分词和过去式) Rabbi:n.拉比(犹太人的学者);法师;犹太教律法专家;先生; Jewish:adj.犹太人的;犹太族的; League:n.联赛;联盟;协会;种类;v.(使)结盟;(使)联合[团结];一鼻孔出气;组成联盟;
Nosair was initially found not guilty of the murder, but while serving time on lesser charges, he and other men began planning attacks on a dozen New York City landmarks , including tunnels , synagogues and the United Nations headquarters . 诺塞尔一开始并未被指认参与谋杀, 但当他因小事入狱服刑期间, 他和一些人开始计划袭击 纽约市的一些地标, 包括隧道,犹太教会堂 和联合国总部。
initially:adv.最初,首先;开头; guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的; lesser:adj.较少的;次要的;更小的;adv.较少地;更小地;不及; landmarks:n.地标,[航]陆标;标志(landmark复数形式); tunnels:n.[交]隧道; v.凿隧道; synagogues:n.犹太教会堂;犹太人集会; United Nations:n.联合国; headquarters:n.总部;指挥部;司令部;
Thankfully , those plans were foiled by an FBI informant . 谢天谢地,这些计划被 美国联邦调查局的线人挫败了。
Thankfully:adv.感谢地;感激地; foiled:adj.有叶形装饰的;v.阻止(foil的过去式和过去分词); informant:n.被调查者;告密者;提供消息者;
Sadly, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center was not. 不幸的是,1993 年 世贸中心的那场爆炸袭击却发生了。
Nosair would eventually be convicted for his involvement in the plot . 诺塞尔最终被指控 参与这场犯罪谋划。
eventually:adv.最后,终于; convicted:v.定罪;宣判…有罪;(convict的过去式和过去分词) involvement:n.牵连;包含;混乱;财政困难; plot:n.情节;阴谋;布局;小块土地;v.密谋;暗中策划;(在地图上)标出;绘制(图表);
El-Sayyid Nosair is my father. 埃尔·塞伊德·诺塞尔是我的父亲。
I was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania in 1983 to him, an Egyptian engineer, and a loving American mother and grade school teacher, who together tried their best to create a happy childhood for me. 我 1983 年出生在宾夕法尼亚州的匹兹堡, 我的父亲是一位埃及裔工程师, 我有个爱我的美国母亲,她是一名小学老师, 他们尽最大的努力 为给我创造出欢乐的童年。
Pittsburgh:n.匹兹堡(美国一座城市); Pennsylvania:n.宾夕法尼亚州(美国州名); grade school:na.(美)小学; childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期
It wasn't until I was seven years old that our family dynamic started to change. 直到我 7 岁的时候 家庭氛围开始出现了变化。
dynamic:n.动力; adj.充满活力的;
My father exposed me to a side of Islam that few people, including the majority of Muslims, get to see. 我的父亲让我接触伊斯兰的一支 很少人见过,包括大部分的穆斯林, 都没见过的一个派别。
exposed:adj.无遮蔽的; v.暴露; (expose的过去分词和过去式) majority:n.大部分:大多数:多数票:成年人:
It's been my experience that when people take the time to interact with one another, it doesn't take long to realize that for the most part , we all want the same things out of life. 我的人生经验告诉我 人们与彼此相处, 很快就意识到,很大程度上 人们对生活有着相同的追求。
interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息; for the most part:adv.在极大程度上,多半;
However, in every religion, in every population, you'll find a small percentage of people who hold so fervently to their beliefs that they feel they must use any means necessary to make others live as they do. 然而,所有宗教,所有群体, 你总能看到一小部分人 对他们的信仰太过狂热 以至于认为他们应该用各种方法 让其他人和他们过同样的生活。
percentage:n.百分比;百分率;利润的分成;提成; fervently:adv.热心地;热诚地;
A few months prior to his arrest, he sat me down and explained that for the past few weekends, he and some friends had been going to a shooting range on Long Island for target practice. 在他被捕前的几个月, 他和我坐着聊天解释到 在过去的几个周末,他和他的一些朋友 在长岛（美国纽约州东南部岛屿） 进行目标射击训练。
prior:adj.先前的; n.(小隐修院)院长; v.居先;
He told me I'd be going with him the next morning. 他让我第二天一早和他一起去。
We arrived at Calverton Shooting Range, which unbeknownst to our group was being watched by the FBI. 我们来到凯佛顿射击场, 我们并不知道自己已经 被联邦调查局监视了。
unbeknownst:adv.不知地;adj.不知的;
When it was my turn to shoot, my father helped me hold the rifle to my shoulder and explained how to aim at the target about 30 yards off. 轮到我射击的时候, 我的父亲帮我扶住肩膀上的来福枪, 并教导我如何瞄准 30 码处的目标。
rifle:n.步枪;来复枪;v.快速搜寻;匆忙翻找;偷窃;盗取;
That day, the last bullet I shot hit the small orange light that sat on top of the target and to everyone's surprise, especially mine, the entire target burst into flames . 那天,我射出的最后一颗子弹 打中了目标顶上的橙色亮光, 所有人都惊呆了,尤其是我, 整个目标版燃烧了。
bullet:n.子弹;只选某党全部候选人的投票;豆子;vi.射出;迅速行进; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; burst into flames:突然着火;爆炸;
My uncle turned to the other men, and in Arabic said, "Ibn abuh." 我的叔叔转向旁边的人, 用阿拉伯语说到,“Ibn abuh”——
Like father, like son. 虎父无犬子。
They all seemed to get a really big laugh out of that comment, but it wasn't until a few years later that I fully understood what they thought was so funny. 他们当场开怀大笑起来, 几年后 我才了解他们大笑的原因,
They thought they saw in me the same destruction my father was capable of. 他们以为我和我的父亲有着 同样的摧毁能力。
destruction:n.破坏,毁灭;摧毁; capable:adj.能干的,能胜任的;有才华的;
Those men would eventually be convicted of placing a van filled with 1,500 pounds of explosives into the sub-level parking lot of the World Trade Center's North Tower, causing an explosion that killed six people and injured over 1,000 others. 这群男人最终被指控 将满载 1500 磅重的炸弹的厢式货车 停在世界贸易中心北塔的地下停车场, 爆炸造成 6 人死亡, 同时致使超过 1000 人受伤。
explosives:n.爆炸物,[化工]炸药;爆炸品(explosive的复数); parking lot:n.停车场; explosion:n.爆炸;爆发;激增; injured:adj.受伤的:委屈的: v.伤害,使受伤: n.伤员;
These were the men I looked up to. 这些是我曾经敬仰的人。
These were the men I called ammu, which means uncle. 这些是我曾经称呼其为 ammu,意为叔叔的人。
By the time I turned 19, 当我 19 岁的时候,
I had already moved 20 times in my life, and that instability during my childhood didn't really provide an opportunity to make many friends. 我已经搬超过 20 次家了, 童年所经历的不稳定 并未给我 结交朋友的机会。
instability:n.不稳定(性);基础薄弱;不安定;
Each time I would begin to feel comfortable around someone, it was time to pack up and move to the next town. 每当我感到和附近人相熟时, 就是我要收拾行囊去下一个地方的时候。
Being the perpetual new face in class, 作为永远的班级新生,
perpetual:adj.永久的;不断的;四季开花的;无期限的;
I was frequently the target of bullies . 我常是同学们欺负的对象。
frequently:adv.频繁地,经常地;时常,屡次; bullies:n.仗势欺人者;横行霸道者;v.恐吓;伤害;胁迫;(bully的第三人称单数和复数)
I kept my identity a secret from my classmates to avoid being targeted, but as it turns out, being the quiet, chubby new kid in class was more than enough ammunition . 为了不被同班同学欺负, 我将自己的身份保密, 但结果是,作为安静又胖乎乎的新同学 很轻易就成为被欺负的对象。
identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式; chubby:adj.圆胖的,丰满的; ammunition:n.弹药;军火;v.装弹药于;装弹药;
So for the most part, I spent my time at home reading books and watching TV or playing video games. 所以更多的时候,我待在家里 看书看电视 或者是打电动。
For those reasons, my social skills were lacking, to say the least, and growing up in a bigoted household , 正因为这样,我的社交能力有所缺失, 简单地说, 成长在固执的家庭,
bigoted:adj.顽固的;心地狭窄的;盲从的; household:n.家庭;一家人;同住一所(或一套)房子的人;adj.家庭的;家常的;王室的;
I wasn't prepared for the real world. 我没有准备好应对现实世界。
I'd been raised to judge people based on arbitrary measurements , like a person's race or religion. 我被教育成用武断的方式, 依据人们的脸或宗教, 来评断他人。
arbitrary:adj.[数]任意的;武断的;专制的; measurements:n.测量值,尺寸(measurement的复数);
So what opened my eyes? 什么让我开了眼界呢？
One of my first experiences that challenged this way of thinking was during the 2000 presidential elections. 某次经历 挑战了我思考的方式 发生于 2000 年美国总统竞选期间。
presidential:adj.总统的;首长的;统辖的;
Through a college prep program, 在预科期间,
prep:n.预备;预习;准备功课;v.上预备学校;作好准备;
I was able to take part in the National Youth Convention in Philadelphia . 我参与了 在费城举办的全国青年大会。
Convention:n.习俗;惯例;协定;常规; Philadelphia:n.费城(美国宾夕法尼亚州东南部港市);
My particular group's focus was on youth violence , and having been the victim of bullying for most of my life, this was a subject in which I felt particularly passionate . 我这组的话题是关于青少年暴力, 作为倍受欺负的受害者, 这个话题我很感兴趣。
violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲; victim:n.受害人;牺牲品;牺牲者; bullying:n.仗势欺人者;横行霸道者;v.恐吓;伤害;胁迫;(bully的现在分词) particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; passionate:adj.热情的;热烈的,激昂的;易怒的;
The members of our group came from many different walks of life. 组员都有着不同的生活轨迹。
One day toward the end of the convention, 大会临近结束的某天,
I found out that one of the kids I had befriended was Jewish. 我发现我的某个朋友 是犹太人。
befriended:v.做(尤指需要帮助者)的朋友;友善对待;(befriend的过去分词和过去式)
Now, it had taken several days for this detail to come to light, and I realized that there was no natural animosity between the two of us. 我也是过了几天 才知晓这件事情, 我认识到,我们之间 并没有与生俱来的仇恨。
animosity:n.憎恶,仇恨,敌意;
I had never had a Jewish friend before, and frankly I felt a sense of pride in having been able to overcome a barrier that for most of my life I had been led to believe was insurmountable . 我从未有过犹太朋友, 坦白地说,我为此感到骄傲, 能够跨越 我人生绝大部分时间 认为是不可能逾越的障碍。
overcome:vt.克服;胜过;vi.克服;得胜; barrier:n.屏障;障碍;障碍物;关口;v.用栅围住; insurmountable:adj.不能克服的;不能超越的;难以对付的;
Another major turning point came when 另一个转折点是,
turning point:转折点;
I found a summer job at Busch Gardens, an amusement park . 某年暑假,我在布希花园 这个主题乐园打工。
amusement park:n.游乐场;娱乐园;
There, I was exposed to people from all sorts of faiths and cultures, and that experience proved to be fundamental to the development of my character. 我见识到有着不同信仰,来自不同文化的人们, 这样的经验 对我的人格发展是至关重要的。
fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
Most of my life, I'd been taught that homosexuality was a sin, and by extension , that all gay people were a negative influence . 因为在过去的日子,我接收到的教育是, 所有的同性恋者都有着消极的影响。
homosexuality:n.同性恋; extension:n.延长;延期;扩大;伸展;电话分机; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; influence:n.影响;势力;感化;有影响的人或事;v.影响;改变;
As chance would have it, I had the opportunity to work with some of the gay performers at a show there, and soon found that many were the kindest, least judgmental people I had ever met. 在我打暑期工的时间里, 我有机会和同性恋演员 一起合作, 我很快发现,很多同性恋者 是我所见过最善良,最自由开放尊重他人的人。
judgmental:adj.审判的;
Being bullied as a kid created a sense of empathy in me toward the suffering of others, and it comes very unnaturally to me to treat people who are kind in any other way than how I would want to be treated . 在儿童时期被欺负的经历 教给我要对他人的遭遇 感到同情和怜悯, 对我来说, 我会善待那些 对我好的人。
bullied:v.恐吓;伤害;胁迫;(bully的过去分词和过去式) empathy:n.神入;移情作用;执着; unnaturally:adv.故意地;违反习俗地;不合乎自然规律地; treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式)
Because of that feeling, I was able to contrast the stereotypes I'd been taught as a child with real life experience and interaction . 因为这样的感受,我能够 用真实生活和交际经历来 抵挡从孩童时期就被灌输的成见。
contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比; stereotypes:n.模式化观念(或形象); v.对…形成模式化(或类型化)的看法; (stereotype的第三人称单数和复数) interaction:n.[计]交互,相互作用;相互交流;干扰;
I don't know what it's like to be gay, but I'm well acquainted with being judged for something that's beyond my control. 我不知道作为同性恋者的感受, 但我熟知那种被 无法掌控的事物所评断的感受。
acquainted:adj.熟悉的;了解;相识;v.使熟悉;使了解;(acquaint的过去式和过去分词)
Then there was "The Daily Show." 接着,有个“每日秀”的节目出现了。
On a nightly basis, Jon Stewart forced me to be intellectually honest with myself about my own bigotry and helped me to realize that a person's race, religion or sexual orientation had nothing to do with the quality of one's character. 每一晚,乔恩·斯图尔特催促我 诚实面对自己的偏见, 帮助我认识到一个人的种族, 信仰和性取向 对这个人的人格没有任何关系。
nightly:adj.夜间的;每夜的;adv.每夜; intellectually:adv.智力上;理智地;知性上; bigotry:n.偏执;顽固;盲从; orientation:n.方向;定向;适应;情况介绍;向东方; had nothing to do with:与…无关;
He was in many ways a father figure to me when I was in desperate need of one. 某种程度上说,每当我迫切需要一个父亲的时候, 他就在那里。
father figure:n.父亲形象; desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的;
Inspiration can often come from an unexpected place, and the fact that a Jewish comedian had done more to positively influence my worldview than my own extremist father is not lost on me. 鼓舞人心之事往往来自你无法预知的地方, 事实上,一个犹太裔喜剧明星 积极地影响我的世界观, 比我那极端的亲生父亲 多得多。
unexpected:adj.意外的,想不到的; comedian:n.滑稽演员;喜剧演员; positively:adv.肯定地;明确地;断然地; worldview:n.世界观; extremist:n.极端主义者,过激分子;
One day, I had a conversation with my mother about how my worldview was starting to change, and she said something to me that I will hold dear to my heart for as long as I live. 某天,我和母亲谈到 我的世界观正在改变, 她对我说, 我将在生命里 一直带着尊重的心。
as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然;
She looked at me with the weary eyes of someone who had experienced enough dogmatism to last a lifetime, and said, "I'm tired of hating people." 她用疲倦的眼神看着我, 她受够了 被教条主义侵占的人生, 说到:“我不愿憎恨他人了。”
weary:adj.疲倦的;厌烦的;令人厌烦的;v.疲倦;厌烦;使厌烦; dogmatism:n.教条主义;独断,武断;
In that instant , I realized how much negative energy it takes to hold that hatred inside of you. 瞬间,我意识到,在内心里承受憎恨 需要多么巨大的负能量。
instant:n.瞬间; adj.立即的; conj.同"assoonas"; hatred:n.仇恨;憎恨;厌恶;
Zak Ebrahim is not my real name. 扎克?伊博黑姆不是我的本名。
I changed it when my family decided to end our connection with my father and start a new life. 当我的家人决定和我父亲断绝关系时 我改了这个名字 以开始新的生活。
So why would I out myself and potentially put myself in danger? 那么,我为什么要出现在公众视线前 将自己置于可能的危险境地呢？
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地;
Well, that's simple. 嗯,这很容易解释。
I do it in the hopes that perhaps someone someday who is compelled to use violence may hear my story and realize that there is a better way, that although I had been subjected to this violent , intolerant ideology , that I did not become fanaticized. 我这样做是希望也许某人某天 当他决定使用武力反抗社会的时候 可能会听到我的故事,并意识到 有比动武更好的方法, 尽管我曾被灌输 这样的暴力思维,偏狭的意识, 我并没有为其所动。
compelled:v.强迫;迫使;使必须;引起(反应);(compel的过去分词和过去式) violent:adj.暴力的;猛烈的; intolerant:adj.无法忍受的;偏狭的; ideology:n.意识形态;思想意识;观念学;
Instead, I choose to use my experience to fight back against terrorism , against the bigotry. 而是选择通过自己的经验 来抵抗恐怖主义, 来反对偏见。
terrorism:n.恐怖主义;
I do it for the victims of terrorism and their loved ones, for the terrible pain and loss that terrorism has forced upon their lives. 我为了那些恐怖袭击的受害者 以及他们的亲人而这样做, 为了那些被恐怖主义活动所造成的 生命的苦痛和损失而这样做。
For the victims of terrorism, I will speak out against these senseless acts and condemn my father's actions. 为了那些遭受恐怖袭击的受害者,我站出来 反对这些毫无意义的袭击行动, 谴责我父亲的行为。
speak out:畅所欲言;大胆地说;大声地说; senseless:adj.愚蠢的;无知觉的;无意识的; condemn:v.谴责;判刑,定罪;声讨;
And with that simple fact, I stand here as proof that violence isn't inherent in one's religion or race, and the son does not have to follow the ways of his father. 就是这样简单的原因,我站在这里证明 暴力不是宗教或种族与生俱来的, 儿子并不需要走上 和父亲相同的道路。
proof:n.证据;证实;adj.能抵御;可防护; inherent:adj.固有的;内在的;与生俱来的,遗传的;
I am not my father. 我不是我的父亲。
Thank you. (Applause) 谢谢。（掌声）
Thank you, everybody. (Applause) 谢谢各位。（掌声）
Thank you all. (Applause) 谢谢大家。（掌声）
Thanks a lot. (Applause) 非常感谢。（掌声）