This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道节目。
Experts say political unrest in the Arab World and protests in Europe have more in common than it may seem.
专家称，阿拉伯世界的政治动荡和欧洲的示威活动比表面看来有更多的共同点。
The "Arab Spring" pro-democracy movement began in Tunisia. Protests forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign in January.
“阿拉伯之春”亲民主运动始发于突尼斯。示威活动迫使本·阿里总统今年1月份辞职。
A short time later, protests in Egypt forced out President Hosni Mubarak, another longtime Arab leader.
不久之后，埃及示威活动将另一位阿拉伯资深领导人穆巴拉克总统赶下了台。
Mary Kaldor was part of the opposition movement in Hungary during the Cold War. She is now a professor of global governance at the London School of Economics.
玛丽·卡尔多是冷战期间匈牙利反对派运动的一员。她现在是伦敦政治经济学院全球治理研究中心的一名教授。
MARY KALDOR: "People assumed that somehow the Middle East was different and that was based on assumptions that somehow Islam is different -- 'It's not like us.' And that was an assumption that underpinned the war on terror, too. And I think what's so wonderful about the Arab Spring is that it's disproving that assumption. It's showing that Arabs are just as democratic as everyone else."
卡尔多：“人们假设中东地区某种意义上有所不同，这是基于伊斯兰教有所不同，‘他们和我们不一样’这种假设。这也是支撑反恐战争的一个假设。而我认为阿拉伯之春的精彩之处在于它驳斥了这种假设。它展示了阿拉伯人和其他人一样民主。”
As the Arab Spring grew, protests also began in parts of Europe.
由于阿拉伯之春亲民主运动的发展，欧洲部分地区也爆发了示威活动。
In Athens, thousands protested cuts in government spending and other budget reforms. Protesters occupied Syntagma Square outside Greece's Parliament. Professor Kaldor says the anger was similar to what the Arab demonstrators felt.
在雅典，成千上万人抗议政府削减支出以及其它预算改革。示威者占领了希腊议会外面的宪法广场（Syntagma Square）。卡尔多教授表示，希腊人民的愤怒与阿拉伯示威者非常相似。
MARY KALDOR: "It's all about, I think, a failure of representation, a feeling that the political class is one class, 'We can't influence them, it's outrageous that they're suddenly saying that we have to pay for what the banks did.' And I think that there's a similar feeling of outrage in the Arab world. So I think there are very many similarities between what's happening in Europe and what's happening in the Arab world."
卡尔多：“我认为，这都和代表性的失败有关，也就是认为政界是一家，‘我们无法影响他们。他们突然说我们必须为银行的所作所为买单，这一点非常离谱。’而我认为阿拉伯世界的义愤也存在类似的感觉。所以我认为，欧洲和阿拉伯世界发生的一切存在很多相似之处。”
In Spain, protesters occupied the Puerta del Sol square in central Madrid, copying the earlier protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
在西班牙，示威者占领了马德里市中心的太阳门广场，重复着此前埃及解放广场的示威活动。
In London, British protesters demonstrated earlier this year against their government's cost-cutting measures. Owen Tudor is international secretary for the Trades Union Congress in Britain.
在伦敦，英国示威者今年早些时候举行示威活动动，反对政府的支出削减措施。欧文·都铎是英国工会联盟的国际关系负责人。
OWEN TUDOR: "I think there are clear differences for what's going on in different countries. We're talking about democracies in Europe, dictatorships across much of North Africa. But many of the causes of what's happened have been very similar. It's about the economic crisis."
都铎：“我认为在不同国家发生的事情存在明显不同。我们讨论的是欧洲的民主，和北非大部分地区的独裁。但造成这一切的原因类似，都和经济危机有关。”
Israel recently had some of its largest demonstrations ever. Israelis have criticized housing costs, wages, taxes and rising prices for food and fuel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising economic reforms but has failed to satisfy social activists.
以色列最近发生了有史以来规模最大的示威活动。以色列人抨击住房成本、工资、税收和不断提高的食品和燃料价格。内塔尼亚胡总理承诺经济改革，但这未能使社会活动家满意。
Some observers see the Arab Spring coming to a halt in Libya and Syria. But Professor Kaldor says the protests have already changed the Arab world.
一些观察人士认为“阿拉伯之春”止步于利比亚和叙利亚。但卡尔多教授表示，示威活动已经改变了阿拉伯世界。
MARY KALDOR: "Nineteen eighty-nine brought an end to the Cold War. I think what twenty-eleven did was to sideline the war on terror. It marginalized al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden may have been physically killed in Pakistan, but he's been politically killed by the demonstrations in the Middle East."
卡尔多：“1989年迎来了冷战的结束。我认为2011年发生的一切已经使反恐战争退居一旁，并使基地组织边缘化。本拉登的肉体在巴基斯坦被消灭，但他的政治思想早在中东的示威中灰飞烟灭。”
The protests in the Arab world might never have amounted to much without the use of social media to help organize protests.
如果不是使用社交化媒体帮助组织抗议，阿拉伯世界的示威活动可能永远不会有多大结果。
The Pearl Roundabout traffic circle in Manama became Bahrain's own version of Tahrir Square. Protesters, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, set up camp and demanded reforms. Bahrain's minority Sunni government, with military help from neighboring nations, violently suppressed the uprising.
麦纳麦（巴林首都）珍珠广场环岛成为了巴林的“解放广场”。示威者大多是什叶派穆斯林，他们在这里安营扎寨，并要求改革。巴林少数派逊尼派政府在周边国家的军事帮助下，暴力镇压了这次暴动。
Today, many Bahrainis say they are afraid to use social media. Abdulnabi Alekry is chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society. He says the government's use of social media to help identify opponents has pushed the country's Sunnis and Shi'ites farther apart.
今天，许多巴林人表示他们不敢使用社交媒体。Abdulnabi Alekry是巴林透明委员会主席。他表示，政府使用社交媒体辨别反对派身份，这已经导致该国逊尼派和什叶派进一步分化。
ABDULNABI ALEKRY: "It is causing a lot of damage to the national unity and it is causing even suspicion between people who work together or live together or are in the same society or club. It is a source of concern."
ABDULNABI ALEKRY：“这对全国团结造成极大破坏，甚至使同事之间，邻里之间，各类组织的会员之间互不信任。这是隐忧的根源。”
Al-Jazeera television recently showed how a Facebook page helped lead officials to a twenty-year-old Shi'ite woman. Visitors to the page were asked to identify her "and let the government take care of the rest." She was reportedly arrested and tortured.
半岛电视台最近播放了Facebook网页如何帮助有关官员找到一名21岁什叶派女子。访问该页面的用户被要求辨认她，政府处理剩下的工作（网络通缉人肉搜索变种？）。据说她被捕并遭受酷刑。
Bahrain is not the only country said to be using social media to find government opponents. Syrian security forces have also been accused of using sites like Facebook and Twitter to identify activists.
巴林不是唯一利用社交媒体搜寻政府反对派的国家。叙利亚安全部队也被指责使用Facebook和Twitter一类网站辨别活动人士。
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