2006年VOA标准英语-Trying to Keep Things Friendly: German Official

By Catherine Drew
Berlin
12 June 2006
 
watch World Cup Racism¹ report

Trinidadian fans celebrate their team's scoreless draw at the 2006 World Cup  
  
"A time to make friends" --- that's the official motto of the 2006 World Cup, which got underway Friday, June 9. German authorities want to ensure things are friendly. Officials are concerned about the country's right-wing extremists and racist² groups. One former government spokesman even suggested that it would not be safe for dark-skinned football fans to travel to certain areas of the country. Those suggestions have been discounted by authorities, but some in Germany maintain that racist violence is a very real problem.

------------------------------------------------

The Kreuzberg area of Berlin is home to around 400,000 Turkish immigrants, the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey. The Turkish Council says racially motivated attacks against the community are a very real problem. 
 

 

 
The flags of the 32 countries participating in this year's World Cup are seen during opening festivities at Munich's World Cup Stadium
  

Mustafa Besirli says far-right groups are a concern. “The problem is the Nazis³. The Nazis are not good for Germany; not good for people from other countries, like me,” Besirli said. “Nazis in Berlin is a dangerous problem.”
 
In May, a Turkish-born member of Berlin's State Parliament was assaulted by neo-Nazis and ended up in the hospital.
 
Recently, a former government spokesman warned that dark-skinned fans should be careful if visiting towns in Brandenburg, the region around Berlin, because of right-wing extremists.

Government figures show that since 2005, there has been a 25 percent increase in violence from far-right groups nationwide with nearly 1,000 incidents.

Moctar Kamara from the African Council says visiting fans must be realistic about the welcome they will receive in Germany.

“All Germans are not racist, some are friendly, but we have a minority and it's dangerous and we have to say, we have to take care,” Kamara said. “ We have a region in Germany where as a foreigner we have attacks and it's not OK.”

There are fears that on the field, teams such as Togo will receive a less-than-warm welcome. German fans are known for their racist chanting against their own non-German players, and even other predominantly white European teams.

German fans are not the only ones guilty of such behavior. FIFA, the world governing body for the sport, has long fought against racism, particularly among Spanish, Italian and eastern European fans. FIFA admits there has been a surge of such behavior as more players from Africa and Latin America are signed by elite⁴ European clubs.
 International publicity⁵ around racist chanting and attacks is a cause of great embarrassment⁶ for the German government.
 
Senator Ehrhart Korting, who heads the Justice Ministry⁷ in the Berlin State Parliament, says he's confident all fans will be safe.

”Each attack is one too much and at special points where we think might happen, we will have police. I don't think we can say there are places you can't go in,” he said. “Every city has places that you shouldn't go, but I think it will be no problem for our guests.
 
Despite the concerns, German authorities do not plan to issue any official warnings to visitors. They'll certainly be hoping that rivalries will play out only on the field

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 elite   

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。

5 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

6 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。