现代大学英语精读第二版（第四册）学习笔记（原文及全文翻译）——15A - A Letter to American Jews)（致美国犹太人的一封信）

Unit 15A - A Letter to American Jews (and Other Friends of Israel)

A Letter to American Jews (and Other Friends of Israel)

Assaf Oron

Passover Eve, 2002

Dear People,

Yesterday I was informed that a peace-supporting Jewish organization called Tikkun published an ad in favor of us, the Israeli-reservist refuseniks, and was immediately bombarded with hate mail and phone calls from other American Jews. This is nothing new to me. Over the past two months since we came out with our public pledge to refuse, I've heard and read so many arguments about our actions, and the moment you refute them, new arguments sprout up like mushrooms.

The general theme is the tribal theme. A very loud voice keeps shouting that we are in the midst of a war between two tribes: a tribe of human beings, of pure good—the Israelis—and a tribe of sub-human beings, of pure evil—the Palestinians. To those who find this black-and-white picture a bit hard to believe, the same voice shouts that this is a war of life and death. Only one tribe will survive, so even if we are not purely good, we must lay morality and conscience to sleep, shut up and fight to kill—or else, the Palestinians will throw us into the sea.

Does this ring a bell to you? It does to me. As a little child growing up in Israel under Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan, all I heard was that the Arabs are monsters who want to throw us into the sea, they understand only force, and since our wonderful IDF has won the Six Day War, they know not to mess with us any more—or else. And, of course, we must keep the "liberated" Territories to ourselves, because there's no one to talk with. Then came the 1973 war, and for a child of 7 it was the perfect proof that indeed the Arabs want to throw us into the sea, and what a great opportunity it was for our glorious IDF to teach them a good lesson.

A few years passed and a funny thing happened: those throw-us-into-the-sea Arabs came to talk with us, and in exchange for all of Sinai they would sign a full peace. The IDF chief of staff shouted that it was a hoax, that we should not believe Sadat. Already a teenager, I went and protested against the withdrawal from Sinai. After all, it was a purely logical issue: the Arabs are not to be trusted, that's what we've learned from day one. Well, lucky for the country, the government and the majority of the people employed a different logic, and the peace with Egypt was not missed.

But the throw-us-into-the-sea paradigm immediately found new fields for play. There was an inconvenient reality on the Northern border, and even though the forces on the other side had strictly adhered to a secret cease-fire for about a year, they were Arabs and therefore could not be trusted. So we talked ourselves into invading Lebanon and setting up a friendlier regime there. The mastermind was defense minister Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres, then leader of the opposition, voted together with his party in favor of the invasion. Only later, when it turned sour, and after many refuseniks already sat in jail, would the main opposition turn against the whole affair. For me at 16 it was also a turning point. When I understood that the government had lied to me in order to sell me this war, I turned from "center-rightist" to "leftist." Sadly enough, it has taken me almost 20 more years, in a slow and painful process, to understand how deeply the lies and self-delusion are rooted in our collective perception of reality.

Anyway, when Peres withdrew most of our forces from Lebanon in 1985, the Arabs could still not be trusted. And so, to soothe our endless paranoia and suspicion, we created that perpetual source of death and crime ironically known as "the Security Zone." It took many years, a lot of blood and Four Mothers—against almost all politicians, generals, and columnists—to finally pull us out of Lebanon. In the long and hard way, we learned that even the Lebanese are human beings whose rights must be respected.

But not the Palestinians. Because the Palestinians are too painfully close, like a rival sibling, we have singled them out for a special treatment. We have perfected our treatment in this strange no-man's-land created in 1967, and known as the Occupied Territories. There we have created an entirely hallucinatory reality, in which the true humans, members of the Nation of Masters, could move and settle freely and safely, while the sub-humans, the Nation of Slaves, were shoved into the corners, and kept invisible and controlled under our IDF boots.

I know. I've been there. I was taught how to do this, back in the mid-1980's. I did and witnessed as a matter of fact, deeds that I'm ashamed to remember to this day. And fortunately for me, I did not have to witness or do anything truly "pornographic," as some friends of mine experienced.

Since 1987, this cruel, impossible, unnatural, insulting reality in the Territories has been exploding in our face. But because of our unshakable belief that the Palestinians are monsters who want to throw us into the sea, we reacted by trying to maintain what we've created at all costs. When a fledgling and hesitating peace process tried to work its way through this mess, one major factor (perhaps THE factor) that undermined it and voided its meaning was our establishment's endless fear and suspicion of The Other. To resolve this fear and suspicion, we chose the insane route of demanding full control of The Other throughout the process. When The Other felt cheated out of his freedom, violence erupted again, and all our ancient instincts woke up. There they are, we said in relief, now we see their true face again. The Arabs want to throw us into the sea. There's no one to talk with ("no partner" in our beloved ex-prime minister's words) and they understand only force. And so we responded as we know and love, with more and more and more force. This time, the effect was that of putting out a fire with a barrel of gasoline. And that's the moment when I said to myself, "No, I'm not playing this game anymore."

But what about the existential threat, you may ask? Well, have you not eyes? Don't you see our tanks strolling in Palestinian streets every other day? Don't you see our helicopters hovering over their neighborhoods choosing which window to shoot a missile into? What type of existential need are we answering in trampling the Palestinians?

Prevention of terror, I hear you say. Let me use the words of my friend Ishay Rosen-Zvi: "You are 'fighting against terror'? What a joke. The policies of Occupation have turned the Territories into a greenhouse for growing terror!!!" You know what? When you treat millions of people like sub-humans for so long, some of them will find inhuman strategies to fight back. Isn't that what the Zionists, and other Jewish revolutionaries, argued about a hundred years ago in order to explain the questionable strategies of survival that Jews used in Europe? Didn't our forefathers say, "Let us live like human beings, and see how we'll act just like other human beings"?

So here's the deal. I don't buy the "they want to throw us into the sea" crap. It's a collective self-delusion of ours. But more importantly, I don't see tribes. I see people, human beings. I believe that the Palestinians are human beings like us. What a concept, eh? And before everything else, before EVERYTHING else, we must treat them like human beings without demanding anything in return. And no, throwing them a couple of crumbs in which they can set up pitiful, completely controlled Bantustans in between our settlements and bypass roads, and believing it to be a great act of "generosity," does NOT come close to answering this basic requirement. This requirement is NOT negotiable; moreover, in a perfect demonstration of historical justice, it is a vital requirement for the survival of our own State.

In the meanwhile, I refuse to be a terrorist in my tribe's name. Because that's what it is: not a "war against terror," as our propaganda machine tries to sell it. This is a war OF terror, a war in which, in return for Palestinian guerrilla and terror attacks, we employ the IDF in two types of terror. One type is quite visible: violent acts of killing and destruction, those which some people still try to explain away as "surgical acts of defense." But the worse type of terror is the silent one, which has continued unabated since 1967 and through the entire Oslo process. It is the terror of Occupation, of humiliation on a personal and collective basis, of deprivation and legalized robbery, of alternating exploitation and starvation. This is the mass of the iceberg, the terror that is itself a long-term greenhouse for counter-terror. And I simply refuse to be a terrorist and criminal, even if the entire tribe denounces me.

This, indeed, is how our establishment has received us so far—denunciation and short prison terms. We are protected from worse by important voices of public support in Israel and abroad. The moment the government or IDF staff thinks the lights are out, and no one sees or cares—they will find or invent the "legal" clause and throw some of us in for long jail terms.

But that's nothing, because the moment our government senses a "lights out" situation—such as a huge terror attack—there will be a horrible bloodbath in the Territories, compared to which the last year and a half will be remembered as a happy picnic.

Last week, Jose Saramago visited the Occupied Territories with a delegation of world famous writers, and compared the reality there to the Nazi concentration camp. This is of course an exaggeration, and Jews worldwide and in Israel fervently denounced Saramago. The denouncers seem to pay much less attention to what some powerful forces inside Israel are saying, planning and doing.

Parties that support the essentially Nazi idea of deporting all Palestinians have been part of our Knesset and our "legitimate" political map since 1984. Recent opinion polls show that 35% of the Jewish public now supports this "solution," as it is sometimes called. Last weekend, General Effi Eitam, fresh out of the military, received a flattering cover story in the Haaretz supplement, unfolding his chilling ideology, calling to expel those Palestinians who don't want to remain here as our serfs to Jordan and Egypt. And he said this: why should we, the country poorest in land resources, bear the burden of solving the Palestinian problem? Well I don't know about you, but I remember some of the Nazi rhetoric in that dark period before the war, when Jews were expelled from Germany but could find no safe haven anywhere else. When I see a retired IDF general and rising political star use the exact same Nazi rhetoric on Israel's most "liberal" newspaper, without any criticism—I feel hair-raising horror.

My friend, Captain Dan Tamir, decided to refuse to serve in the Territories about a year ago. He realized that in his last reserve duty as an intelligence officer, he laid out the plans to convert a large Palestinian town into a closed ghetto. The vast majority of Palestinians in the Territories now starve in such ghettos. One of the top commanders in the Territories is now quoted in Haaretz as saying that in order to prepare for potential battles in dense urban neighborhoods, the IDF must learn, if necessary, how the German army "operated" in the Warsaw ghetto. A week later, the reporter confirmed this quote, stating that this is a widespread opinion in the IDF. Almost no one in the Jewish world was interested in following up on this story, and it died down. Where were all these holy souls, scolding anyone who dares allude to the Nazi horror, when a senior IDF officer proudly called, "in order to beat the Palestinians, let's do what the Nazis did"?

I have little hope that the Israeli public will wake up in time to prevent all that's to come. The Israeli public, in its fear and confusion, wants to go to sleep and wake up only "after it is all over." But it won't be over, because while our mind sleeps our muscles tighten the death grip, instead of doing the only sensible thing—which is to let go. Will you guys join the hypocrite mobs singing lullabies to Israel, and pouncing upon the refuseniks, upon Tikkun, upon Saramago, to shut us up? Or will you finally take responsibility and be the true friends that Israel needs now—even if it means not being "nice" to Israel for a while?

As you sit tonight at the Seder table, please remember the dozen or so refuseniks who spend this Seder in a military jail. More importantly, please remember the thousand or so people, three-quarters Palestinians and one-quarter Israelis, who were here with us a year ago and have been murdered. Most of them could have been here with us, if you and we had acted sooner. We have now acted, done what little we can do. Please think of the many thousands that may be doomed soon, if you continue sitting on the fence.

May you have a happy Holiday of Freedom.

Yours,

参考译文——致美国犹太人（以及其他以色列朋友）的公开信

致美国犹太人（以及其他以色列朋友）的公开信

阿萨夫·奥龙

2002年逾越节晚

亲爱的朋友们：

昨天，我被告知，一个名叫“和谐”（Tikktm）的支持和平的犹太组织，在刊登了一则支持我们以色列后备队反战联盟的广告后，立刻收到了来自其他美国犹太人的铺天盖地的恐吓信和电话攻击。对我而言，这倒并非什么新鲜事。在我们公开宣布拒绝与他们为伍后的两个月来，我已经听到或读到太多针对我们这一举动的论点。而且只要你一反驳，新的论点又会像雨后春笋般涌现。

关于巴以冲突的普遍论调还是以部落为出发点。（似乎）有一个响亮的声音不停地在喊，我们正深陷两个部落——绝对善良的以色列人类部落和绝对邪恶的巴勒斯坦次等人类部落——之间的战争。当有人觉得这一非黑即白的描绘有点难以令人相信时，这一声音又大声叫道，这是一场生死攸关的战争。只有一个部落能够存活下来，因此即使我们不能做到绝对善良，也必须把道德和良心扔到一边，闭上嘴巴，往死里战斗——要不然，那些巴勒斯坦人就会把我们扔到海里去。

这些话你听起来耳熟吗？我听起来是的。在果尔达·梅厄夫人和摩西·达扬领导下的以色列长大的我，听到的都是阿拉伯人是想把我们扔进海里的魔鬼的论调：阿拉伯人只懂得暴力，但是自从我们了不起的以色列国防军贏得“六日战争”之后，他们知道不能再和我们瞎闹了，否则不会有好下场。当然，我们必须保留那些被我们“解放”的领土，因为我们没有可谈判的对象。之后，1973年，另一场战争来了，对一个7岁的孩子来说，这的确是证明阿拉伯人想把我们扔进海里的最好证据。这也是我们伟大的以色列国防军好好教训他们的一个大好机会。

几年过去了，这时发生了一件有趣的事：那些“要把我们扔进海里”的阿拉伯人来和我们谈判了，而且只要我们归还整个西奈半岛，作为交换，他们就会签订一个全面的和平协议。以色列国防军的参谋长喊道:“这是一个骗局，我们不应该相信萨达特。”那时，我已经是一个十几岁的少年，我跑去参加抗议游行，反对从西奈撤出。反正这完全是一个逻辑问题：阿拉伯人是信不过的，那是我们从第一天起就明白的道理。不过，我们国家真是万幸，政府和大多数人民采用了一个不同的逻辑，没有错过与埃及的和平。

但是那个“要把我们扔进海里”的范式立刻又找到了新的发挥作用的领域。在北部边境有一件麻烦事。虽然，在近一年的时间里，边界另一边的武装力量一直严格遵守秘密的停火协议，但他们是阿拉伯人，因此是信不过的。于是我们说服我们的武装力量入侵黎巴嫩，在那里建立了一个更加友好的政权。这件事的主谋是国防部长阿里埃勒·沙龙。当时的反对党领袖西蒙·佩雷斯及反对党成员都投票支持这次入侵。只是后来事情却变了味，很多反战联盟成员被抓入狱，这时反对党才反对这整个事件。这对16岁的我来说也是一个转折点。当我明白政府为了让我接受这场战争而向我说了谎时，我就从“中右派”变成了“左派”。可悲的是，我又花了几乎20年的时间，才慢慢痛苦地认识到，这些谎言和自我欺骗是如何深深植根于我们集体对现实的理解之中的。

无论如何，当佩雷斯于1985年从黎巴嫩撤出我们的大部分武装力量的时候，我们认为阿拉伯人仍然不可信。于是，为了安抚我们永远无法摆脱的多疑和猜忌，我们创造了一个永无休止的死亡和犯罪的发源地，并讽刺性地称其为“安全区”。多年以后，我们以鲜血为代价，并借助四位母亲的运动，与几乎所有的政治家、将军和专栏作家斗争过后，我们才得以最终从黎巴嫩撤出。在这漫长的艰难岁月里，我们明白了一个道理，即便是黎巴嫩人也是人类，他们的权利也必须得到尊重。

但巴勒斯坦人另当别论。令人苦恼的是，巴勒斯坦人和我们实在太像了，和我们就像是同室操戈的兄弟，所以我们把他们挑出来予以特殊对待。1967年，在那块被称为“占领区” 的奇怪的无人区里，我们把对待他们的方式发挥到了极致。我们在那里创造了一个完全是幻象的世界。在这个世界里，那些真正的人——自己当家做主的国度里的子民们——可以自由安全地搬过来定居，而那些次等人，那些奴隶的国度的成员，则被赶到角落，在我们国防军铁蹄的控制下，让世界感觉不到他们的存在。

我知道真相，因为我去过那里。早在20世纪80年代中期，他们就教我怎么做这件事。实际上，我不仅亲眼见到，而且还亲自做了直到今天我一想起来还感到可耻的行为。我还算运气好的，没有像我有些朋友那样目睹或亲身参与真正“下流”的事情。

自1987年以来，在占领区里，一系列残酷的、让人难以置信的、违背常理的、侮辱性的事情在我们面前不断发生。但是因为我们坚信巴勒斯坦人都是想把我们扔进海里的魔鬼，所以我们不惜一切代价地维持我们创造的一切。那时，解决这一混乱的和平进程刚刚起步，正踌躇发展，但很快被破坏，变得毫无意义。这当中的一个主要原因（也许是唯一原因）在于我们的当权派对于“他人”永无休止的恐惧和怀疑。为了消除这种恐惧和怀疑，我们选择了那条愚蠢透顶的出路，要求在整个和平进程中保持对对方的完全控制。当对方感到他的自由被骗走时，暴力冲突就再次爆发了，而我们所有古老的本能也就苏醒过来。他们就是这个样子，我们如释重负地说，现在我们又一次看到他们的真面目了。阿拉伯人想把我们扔进大海。我们没有可谈判的对象（按我们亲爱的前任首相的话来说就是“没有合作伙伴”），他们只懂得暴力。因此我们以自己所熟知和钟爱的方式用非常非常非常多的暴力对此事进行了回应。这一次，产生的效果就如同火上浇油。我就是在那个时候对自己说:“不干了。我再也不玩这个游戏了。”

你也许会问，如果那对我们的生存产生威胁该怎么办呢？我说，你没长眼睛吗？难道你没看见我们的坦克每隔一天就在巴勒斯坦人的街上巡逻吗？难道你没看见我们的直升机在他们的居民区上空盘旋，看该向哪个窗户发射导弹吗？我们这样践踏巴勒斯坦人算是在满足他们什么样的生存需要呢？

我听到你在说，这是为了预防恐怖。请容许我借用我朋友伊沙亚·罗森·兹维的话来说吧:“你们在’和恐怖作斗争’？太可笑了。占领政策已经把占领区变成了滋生恐怖的温床!!!”你知道吗？当你在这么长时间里把成千上万的人当次等人对待时，他们当中就会有一些人寻求不人道的战略来回击。这难道不是犹太复国主义者和其他犹太革命者在大约100年以前为了解释犹太人在欧洲采用的令人质疑的生存战略而提出的论点吗？我们的先人不是说了吗:”让我们像人那样活着，看看我们是如何像其他人那样行事的”。

因此这就是我的态度。我不相信“他们想把我们扔进海里”这种胡话。这是我们集体的自欺欺人。但更重要的是，在我眼里，没有部落，只有人，人类。我相信巴勒斯坦人像我们一样，都是人类。觉得这个观点很怪，是不是？但在我们谈别的问题之前，在谈所有问题之前，我们必须要不求任何回报地把他们当人类来对待。不，给他们一点面包屑，让他们在我们的居民点和边路之间建立一些可怜的、完全为我们所控制的班图斯坦，并认为这就是一种伟大的“慷慨”行为，这根本谈不上满足这个基本条件。这个基本条件是没有讨价还价的余地的。而且，历史的公正也完美地证明，这是我们自己的国家要生存下去的一个必不可少的条件。

与此同时，我拒绝以我部落的名义去充当一个恐怖分子。我们的宣传机器试图让我们接受“反恐战争”的说法，但实际上，就是去当恐怖分子。这是一场由恐怖构成的战争，在这场战争里，为了对付巴勒斯坦游击队和恐怖袭击，我们就动用国防军进行两种恐怖行为。一种是有形的，是杀戮和破坏的暴力行动——有些人还试图把这些行动辩解成“外科手术式的自卫”。但更加恶劣的是那种无声的恐怖，它自1967年开始，一直有增无减地持续着，贯穿了奥斯陆谈判的整个过程。这是被占领的恐怖，是作为个人和集体道受羞辱的恐怖，是剥夺和被合法化了的抢劫的恐怖，是剥削和饥饿交替的恐怖。这种恐怖是一座大冰山，它本身就是长期滋生反恐怖的温床。而我只是拒绝成为一个恐怖分子和罪犯，即便整个部落都谴责我。

实际上，这就是我们的执政当局到目前为止如何对待我们的——谴责我们，将我们短期拘留。我们之所以没有受到更严重的迫害，是因为我们有以色列国内外一些重要的公众支持的呼声的保护。一旦政府或国防军的官员认为“灯关了”，没人能看到或在乎他们干什么了——他们就会找一个或编造一个“合法”的条文，把我们当中一些人判处长期监禁。

但是这没什么了不起，因为我们的政府一旦感觉出现了“灯关了”的状况——比如发生一次大的恐怖袭击——就会在占领区进行一次可怕的大屠杀。与之相比，过去一年半发生的事情会被作为快乐的野餐留在人们的记忆里。

上周，若泽·萨拉马戈和一个世界著名作家代表团访问了占领区，他把那里的状况比作纳粹的集中营。这当然是一种夸张。为此，全球和以色列的犹太人都愤怒地谴责萨拉马戈。但是这些谴责者似乎并不太关心以色列国内某些重要势力在说些什么，策划些什么，做些什么。

从1984年起，支持驱逐所有巴勒斯坦人的这一本质上是纳粹观点的政党一直是我们议会和我们“合法”的政治地图的一部分。最近的民意调查显示，现在犹太人中有35%的公众支持这种“解决办法”,正如人们有时这样称呼的那样。上个周末，厄菲·埃坦将军刚刚从军界退休，就收到《国土报》增刊为他写的一篇阿谀奉承的封面故事。文中披露了他那一整套令人不寒而栗的思想：号召把那些不愿留在这里给我们当农奴的巴勒斯坦人都驱逐到约旦和埃及去。他还这样说：为什么应该由我们这样土地资源最贫乏的国家来扛起解决巴勒斯坦问题的重担呢？好吧，我不知道你们怎么想，但我想起了在战前那个黑暗的时期里纳粹的一些言论，那时犹太人被驱逐出德国，在哪里都找不到避难所。当我看见一位退休的国防军将军和冉冉升起的政治明星在以色列最“开明”的报纸上，发表和纳粹党完全一样的言论却没有受到任何批评的时候——我感到毛骨悚然的恐惧。

大约一年前，我的朋友达恩·塔米尔上尉决定拒绝在占领区服役。他意识到，他上一次在预备役做情报官员的时候制定了一些计划，结果把一个很大的巴勒斯坦城镇变成一个封闭的贫民窟。现在，在占领区里，绝大多数的巴勒斯坦人都在这种贫民窟里忍饥挨饿。据《国土报》报道，占领区有一个高级指挥官说过，为了为在人口密集的城区可能发生的战斗做准备，如果需要的话，国防军必须学习德军当年在华沙贫民窟是如何“用兵”的。一个星期以后，那个记者证实了这句话的出处，而且说，在国防军里这是相当普遍的意见。在犹太人世界里，几乎没有人有兴趣继续研究这个故事，不久这个故事也就被遗忘了。当一位国防军高级军官在自豪地大叫“为了打败巴勒斯坦人，让我们采用纳粹当年的做法”的时候，那些平时只要有人敢暗示纳粹的恐怖就会破口大骂的虔诚高尚的人物到哪里去了？

我对以色列公众会及时觉醒以阻止将要发生的一切不抱太大希望了。由于恐惧和迷茫，以色列公众希望能睡上一觉，等“一切结束后”再醒来。但这不会结束，因为就在我们的脑子睡大觉的同时，我们的肌肉还在紧紧抓住对方，而不是做唯一明智的事情——撒手给对方自由。诸位是打算和那些伪善的愚民们一起给以色列唱催眠曲，抓住机会猛烈地抨击反战分子，抨击“和谐”组织，抨击萨拉马戈，好让我们闭嘴，还是终于决定担起责任，做以色列现在需要的真正的朋友——即使这样做意味着对以色列暂时不“友好”呢？

当诸位今晚围坐在逾越节家宴的餐桌旁时，请不要忘记被囚禁在军队监狱里度过这个节日的十几个反战分子。更重要的是，不要忘记那上千的人——其中四分之三是巴勒斯坦人，四分之一是以色列人，他们一年前还和我们一起在这里，而如今他们都已被谋害了。如果你们和我们能早一些行动的话，他们中的大多数人今天可能还和我们在一起。现在我们已经采取了行动，尽了我们的绵薄之力。如果你们还继续观望的话，请想想那数以千计的人，他们可能不久也会死亡。

祝你们过一个快乐的自由的节曰。

阿萨夫·奥龙

Key Words:

refute [ri'fju:t]

vt. 驳斥，反驳，证明

hoax [həuks]

v. 欺骗，哄骗，愚弄

paradigm ['pærədaim]

n. 范例，示范，典范，[语]词形变化表

paranoia [.pærə'nɔiə]

n. 偏执狂，妄想狂

bypass ['baipɑ:s]

vt. 绕开，忽视

humiliation [hju:.mili'eiʃən]

n. 耻辱，丢脸

exploitation [.eksplɔi'teiʃən]

n. 开发，开采，利用

terror ['terə]

n. 恐怖，惊骇，令人惧怕或讨厌的人或事物

hypocrite ['hipəkrit]

n. 伪君子，伪善者

allude [ə'lu:d]

vi. 暗示，暗指

参考资料：