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VOA标准英语2011--Social Media, Emerging Street Opposition

时间:2011-05-06 01:35:18

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Social Media, Emerging Street Opposition1 Are Forces Behind Syrian Uprising

For seven weeks a popular uprising against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been raging. Emboldened2 by successful movements to topple dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, frustrated3 young Syrians began organizing protests online and then took them to the streets.
Despite periodic cuts in the Internet and mobile network, young Syrian activists5 have been working their computers and mobile phones for weeks, updating Facebook pages, sending out messages over Twitter, uploading videos onto YouTube and speaking to human rights campaigners, journalists and others outside their country. They try to tell the world what is happening, as most foreign reporters have been banned.
Activists say tools such as Facebook and Twitter were not widely known in Syria until just a few months ago. As the Arab Spring spread across North Africa and the Middle East, Syrian youth began learning about the role of social media in it. Now thousands engage in social media.
Youth movement
Activist4 Rami Nakhle, who has been living in Lebanon for the last few months to avoid arrest in his native Syria, said the uprising began on the Internet with the youth, but then moved to the streets drawing people of all ages.
"It is a completely, completely spontaneous revolution. That's what I would call it..... but absolutely, it is led by young people. If young people did not call for protest, the old people would just stay in their homes," said Nakhle. "But old people, when they saw protests in the mosque6, they will join; when they saw huge protest pass in front of their houses, they will join. It's like this. But who is organizing it? Who is planning it? They are the young people."
Protesters demanded that an oppressive emergency law banning protests be lifted. They also called for the legalization of political parties and the removal of corrupt7 officials.
Continuing crackdown
Assad responded with promises of reform and on April 21st said he was lifting the law that allows people to be arrested without warrants. But his security forces have continued their violent crackdown and hundreds of protesters - mostly young men - have been reported arrested or killed across the country.
Syrian activist Khaled el Ekheytar said because of the media ban, it has been up to the protesters to get the word out to the world.
"The guys who are organizing for the demonstration8 - they are going to the demonstration, they are shooting [videotaping] the demonstration - they might get shot or wounded or killed or whatever," said el Ekheytar. "They need to go back there to upload the video, and then to make sure that they are going to be there everywhere for the guys who need it and prepare for the next day. So it's like they are doing everything."
When asked who is leading the peaceful protests, activists and analysts9 alike agree that it appears to be a leaderless uprising.
Leaderless uprising
Nadim Houry is the director of Human Rights Watch's Beirut office. He said the protesters have a very informal level of organization, and comprise both secular-liberal and intellectual people, alongside more traditional conservatives, such as sheikhs and imams.
"It is not a top-down organized effort. Like Egypt, like Tunisia, it started out a lot more spontaneously. In the case of Syria, it started out as localized demands in Daraa because of a particularly vicious moukhabarat [secret police] guy," said Houry. "Those protests sort of rippled10 and echoed via other activists so the information spread."
Houry adds that Syrians in the Diaspora also have played an important role, particularly as relay points for information, but that the movement has been primarily driven from inside the country.
'Old opposition' participates
Some activists say that the "old opposition" - mostly the exiled Muslim Brotherhood11 and signatories to the 2005 Damascus Declaration, which calls for peaceful democratic regime change - have joined the uprising too late.
A dozen signatories to the Damascus Declaration have served jail time for their involvement in it, while the Muslim Brotherhood operates from Britain.
Nakhle says as a group the old opposition has not been effective, but some individuals from their ranks have been very important to the movement.
"I think those people inside the Damascus Declaration, they would have a great chance to lead this period, to lead this revolution, but they just missed it, because they did not come to a decision all of them together, said Nakhle. "But individuals from them do play a great role."
American University in Beirut political science professor Hilal Khashan said active, organized political opposition inside Syria was crushed under Assad's father, Hafez, and that is why this uprising has no clear leadership.
Conspiracy12 theory
"There is no opposition in Syria, unless you mean the Muslim Brotherhood. Assad, the late [Hafez] Assad, drove them out of the country after he massacred them in Hama in 1982," said Khashan. "The demonstrators in Syria are largely acting13 on their own. I am not into the conspiracy theory. It may be that some certain countries are trying to take advantage of the situation as the Syrian regime is claiming, but the fact remains14 that people who go to the street do so - or did so - spontaneously."
The conspiracy theory he refers to is the Syrian regime's claim that armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq incited15 the protests. The government insists its military crackdown is intended to crush these gangs, not harm innocent citizens.
Khashan said that with time, the pull of the Syrian street will create its own elite16. But right now anyone who emerges as a leader of this movement risks jail or death.


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1 opposition eIUxU     
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。
2 emboldened 174550385d47060dbd95dd372c76aa22     
v.鼓励,使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆,走上前去向她作自我介绍。
  • His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 frustrated ksWz5t     
adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
参考例句:
  • It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
  • The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
5 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 mosque U15y3     
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。
7 corrupt 4zTxn     
v.贿赂,收买;adj.腐败的,贪污的
参考例句:
  • The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
  • This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。
8 demonstration 9waxo     
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
9 analysts 167ff30c5034ca70abe2d60a6e760448     
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。
10 rippled 70d8043cc816594c4563aec11217f70d     
使泛起涟漪(ripple的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
  • The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田,泛起一片麦浪。
11 brotherhood 1xfz3o     
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。
12 conspiracy NpczE     
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋
参考例句:
  • The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
  • He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。
13 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
14 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
15 incited 5f4269a65c28d83bc08bbe5050389f54     
刺激,激励,煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
  • The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。
16 elite CqzxN     
n.精英阶层;实力集团;adj.杰出的,卓越的
参考例句:
  • The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
  • We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

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