2006年VOA标准英语-Killing of French Jew Sparks Fears of Risi

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
28 February 2006

French flag flies above demonstrators who carry flags of the Jewish Defense¹ League as they participate in a march through Paris, February 26, 2006  
  
The brutal² killing³ of a Jewish telephone salesman in France this month is stoking fears of rising anti-Semitism. Just a few years ago, the country experienced a wave of attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions. Many French Jews now worry about more violence to come.

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Children pour out of class one recent afternoon at the Cohen-Tenoudji Jewish school, located in the Paris suburb of Savigny-sur-Orge. The school is brightly decorated with magic-marker posters about Jerusalem and about an upcoming religious holiday. But the school is also enclosed by a tall metal fence. And parents like Jean-Francois Zerdoun, here picking up his 11-year-old son Simon, say they are worried about their children's safety.

Zerdoun says there's a growing sense of insecurity in France. He said French police have not cracked down hard enough against tough, mostly Muslim youths, blamed for attacks against Jews and others. Zerdoun speaks from experience. A number of Muslim youngsters hurled⁴ pebbles⁵ at him two years ago, as he was returning from synagogue with his son.

The concerns of Zerdoun and other Jews in France have heightened since the death earlier this month of 23-year-old Jewish salesman Ilam Halimi. Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burns near railway tracks outside Paris. He died on the way to the hospital.

Halimi was allegedly held by a gang calling itself "The Barbarians⁶." Although its members appear to come from diverse ethnic⁷ and religious backgrounds, police also seized papers attesting⁸ to the gang's apparent support of fundamentalist Islam and of Palestinian causes. The gang reportedly has tried to target other Jews in the past.

Halimi's death has sparked outrage⁹ and worry in France. This past weekend, tens of thousands of French took to the streets of Paris and other major cities to protest racism¹⁰ and anti-Semitism. A poll published Sunday found the majority of French believe both are on the rise here.

For many Jews in France, who comprise Europe's largest Jewish community, Halimi's death caps a rise of anti-Semitic incidents that began six years ago. The French government's response has reduced the numbers of anti-Semitic attacks, but not the sense of insecurity on the part of Jews like Lise Payen Touitou.

Touitou, whose son attends the suburban¹¹ Jewish school, says people fear violence even in affluent¹² neighborhoods. She notes the school has lots of security, much more so, she believes, than in non-Jewish schools.

In conversations at the Cohen Tenoudji school and elsewhere, French Jews say they have notched¹³ up their habitual¹⁴ wariness¹⁵ since Halimi's killing. Boys and young men think twice before venturing outdoors wearing skull¹⁶ caps and prayer shawls. Parents are forbidding their children to use public transport in rough areas. And a few are emigrating to Israel.

In some cases, the precautions aren't new. Enrollment¹⁷ in Jewish schools like Cohen Tenoudji has soared in recent years, in part because parents think they provide a safer environment for their children. So has the aliya, or Jewish emigration to Israel.

David Roche, European general director for the Jewish Agency for Israel, says more than 3,000 French Jews immigrated¹⁸ to Israel last year - the highest number in 30 years.

Roche says he doesn't believe there's a direct link between anti-Semitic acts and the aliya to Israel. Many French Jews live well in France, and they choose to emigrate to Israel for a variety of other factors. Still, he adds, Jews feel uneasy and the recent killing has only increased this sentiment.

But other Jews are trying to build bonds with France's six-million-strong Muslim community, which is also the largest in Western Europe. That's the case of Michel Serfaty, the rabbi of the Ris-Orangis synagogue outside Paris.

Rabbi Serfaty is the first to admit that relations between French Jews and Muslims are uneasy at best. Most like Serfaty, a Moroccan Jew, are ethnic North Africans.

Serfaty says communication between first-generation North African Jews and Muslims like himself is easy. But he says it's not the same with the young generation. On both sides, the Jews and Muslims tend to stick to themselves.

For the past decade, Serfaty has organized youth visits to Polish concentration camps and other Holocaust¹⁹ memorials. Many youngsters on the tours are French Muslims. Last year, he also organized a Jewish-Muslim friendship tour around France.

His synagogue sits next to a Protestant church and a Muslim cultural center. He has good relations with leaders of both faiths.

Rabbi Serfaty agrees the Jewish community is living in fear since Halimi's killing. Some Jews will likely leave France because they believe Islamic radicals²⁰ are gaining a foothold. But he believes those decisions are unacceptable. "We have to stay calm and let justice do its work," he said.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

6 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 attesting   

v.证明( attest的现在分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• Thus, a word of God, giving his own authoritative promise of redemption, must be self-attesting. 因此，上帝的话-将祂自己权威性的救赎应许赐给了人-必须是自证的。 来自互联网
• There might be a letter in your file attesting to your energetic and imaginative teaching. 可能我会写封信证明你生动而充满想象力的教学。 来自互联网

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 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。

11 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

12 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

13 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

14 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

15 wariness   

n. 注意,小心

参考例句：

• The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
• There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。

16 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

17 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

18 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

19 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

20 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

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。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句