2007年VOA标准英语-Egypt Renews Crackdown on Islamic Opposition

By Sonja Pace
Cairo, Egypt
06 September 2007

The Egyptian government has renewed a crackdown on suspected members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood¹, the banned Islamic organization that has long been the main opposition² movement in the country. Some say the crackdown is a legitimate³ response to a security threat; others say it is simply to stifle⁴ dissent⁵. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

Muslim Brotherhood's third-highest ranking member, and a main financier Khayrat al-Shater (R-front) leads a group of detained members of the banned movement to courthouse in Cairo 28 Feb 2007

Egypt's security services have been targeting summer camps - in Cairo, in the Nile delta⁶ and on the Mediterranean⁷ coast. In several raids in recent months, they have arrested dozens of young members of the Muslim Brotherhood. They accuse them of belonging to a banned organization.

Political commentator⁸, Karam Gabr, head of the government-affiliated Rose al Youssef media group, tells VOA the arrests are justified⁹ and completely legal. 

He says Brotherhood members belong to a banned group, banned because Egyptian law forbids practicing politics on the basis of religion.

He says the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned for a long time and that it has no legal status. He says every country takes legal measures to confront terrorist crimes and ensure security.

It may be banned, but the Brotherhood, or Ikhwan, as it is known locally, is very much in existence.

Ayman Nour, head of Al-Ghad opposition Party and a presidential candidate (now in jail), right, shakes hands with Mohammed Mahdi Akef, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and oldest Islamic group in Cairo 14  Aug 2005

The head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Mahdi Akef, tells VOA the arrests are unjustified, but not surprising. 

He says the arrests have become customary practice in Egypt's despotic political culture. And, he says there is also foreign pressure to prevent Islam from being a major political force.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 and grew into the largest and most influential¹⁰ Islamic movement in the Arab world. It is the main political opposition in several Arab countries, including Egypt.  

The Brotherhood's stated goal is to establish a state under Sharia, Islamic law, and also to unite Muslim countries into one Islamic state or caliphate.  While the group officially opposes violence, many governments have linked its members to political killings¹¹ and attempted uprisings. The Brotherhood was banned in Egypt in 1954 and has since gone through varying periods of being tolerated or being suppressed.

Members of the Brotherhood were allowed to run in the 2005 parliamentary elections in Egypt, but only as independent candidates. Still, they won 20 percent of the seats in the lower house of parliament.   

Mohamed Akef says that success at the ballot¹² box worries the government.

He says the Brotherhood is the second most powerful bloc¹³ in parliament, and no other faction¹⁴ has the support it enjoys on the street.  He says that is why the government is confronting the Brotherhood, a movement he says is beloved by the people.

From the outset, the Brotherhood has been more than a religious or political movement.  It has a strong social agenda and runs schools, hospitals and welfare centers.

That kind of grassroots network is viewed as a threat by the ruling establishment, says political sociologist¹⁵, Said Sadek Amin of the American University in Cairo.  He believes the recent crackdown is a message to the Ikhwan and any other potential political rival.

"There are multiple messages being sent by the regime through this crackdown, not only for the Ikhwan but for all liberal, secular¹⁶, leftist forces in the country - look at the Ikhwan, who are suffering a great deal and imagine what would happen to you when you are in fact a smaller power compared to them," Amin said.

The Brotherhood says that overall, the government is holding more than 500 of its members.  Among them are 40 who are facing a military tribunal on charges of money laundering¹⁷ and financing an illegal organization.

The Brotherhood has, for now, given up plans to seek legislation to legalize the Ikhwan. Its lawmakers say they know they cannot get their legislative¹⁸ proposals past the ruling party.  But, they say they will continue to try with proposals to fight corruption¹⁹, improve education, health care and economic conditions.

Some see that as the Brotherhood's strength among the people; others see it as a long-term ploy²⁰ to come to power and bring  Islamic rule to Egypt.

1 brotherhood   

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。

2 opposition   

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。

3 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

4 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

5 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

7 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

8 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

9 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

10 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

11 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

12 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

13 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

14 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

15 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

16 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

17 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。