VOA标准英语2013--索马里青年党曾在美国明尼苏达州招兵买马

 

Al-Shabab Finds Fighters Among Somali Youth in Minnesota 索马里青年党曾在美国明尼苏达州招兵买马

MINNEAPOLIS — While it is still unknown whether Somali-Americans were involved in the recent deadly attack by al-Shabab on a Kenyan shopping mall, it is known that the large Somali community in the U.S. state of Minnesota has been fertile ground for recruitment by the terrorist group. Many young Somali men in the U.S. are torn between two cultures, leaving some susceptible¹ to religious and patriotic² appeals from the Islamist militant³ group.

Hashim Yonis has embraced life in America and is running for the post of Park Board and Recreation Commissioner⁴ in Minneapolis.  And he is mentoring⁵ other young Somali men to help them overcome a sense of alienation⁶ that many in his generation feel.  

“My generation, I call them the lost generation.  They are not part of the traditional Somalia. They are not part of, 100 percent, so they basically have their one foot on the America side, the Western side and the other one back home," said Yonis.

Many young Somali men are the children of refugees who fled the long civil war in their country and are having difficulty assimilating into American life.  Some drop out of school, can’t find a job or get involved in gangs.  

Nimco Ahmed, a Somali activist⁷ who works for the Minneapolis City Council, says the war and resettlement has fractured the traditional family structure.

“Most of our fathers are either not here or not in the country or dead pretty much.  So not having a father figure for boys has been a struggle for us.  And it is still a struggle for us," said Ahmed.

Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia in 2007 was viewed by some Somalis as a violation⁸ of Somali sovereignty even though the troops intervened at the request of the transitional Somali government and with the backing of the African Union and the U.S.  

Using a mixture of religion, nationalism and what some say is deception⁹, the Islamist militant group al-Shabab has recruited at least 20 Somali-Americans to fight against foreign troops in Somalia.

Hasno Jimale voices a minority opinion in the Somali community about the intentions of those who joined al Shabab were admirable.

“So we are not talking about the root cause, what caused these people to go back, ostensibly to defend the dignity and the sovereignty of a nation that is being destroyed," he said.

But the majority opinion is that al-Shabab manipulates disaffected¹⁰ youth.  Yonis and other leaders are trying to counter the appeal of terrorist groups abroad by advocating for improved education and opportunities to allow more Somalis to better integrate into American society. 

1 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

2 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。

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 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

5 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

6 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

7 activist   

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。

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

9 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

10 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。