I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace | Zak Ebrahim

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Madeleine Aronson

翻译人员: Zhiting Chen 校对人员: Geoff Chen

On November 5th, 1990,

1990 年 11 月 5 日，

a man named El-Sayyid Nosair walked

一位名叫埃尔·塞伊德·诺塞尔的男子

into a hotel in Manhattan

走入曼哈顿的一间宾馆

and assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane,

刺杀了拉比梅厄‧卡赫纳，

the leader of the Jewish Defense League.

犹太防卫联盟的首领。

Nosair was initially found not guilty of the murder,

诺塞尔一开始并未被指认参与谋杀，

but while serving time on lesser charges,

但当他因小事入狱服刑期间，

he and other men began planning attacks

他和一些人开始计划袭击

on a dozen New York City landmarks,

纽约市的一些地标，

including tunnels, synagogues

包括隧道，犹太教会堂

and the United Nations headquarters.

和联合国总部。

Thankfully, those plans were foiled

谢天谢地，这些计划被

by an FBI informant.

美国联邦调查局的线人挫败了。

Sadly, the 1993 bombing

不幸的是，1993 年

of the World Trade Center was not.

世贸中心的那场爆炸袭击却发生了。

Nosair would eventually be convicted

诺塞尔最终被指控

for his involvement in the plot.

参与这场犯罪谋划。

El-Sayyid Nosair is my father.

埃尔·塞伊德·诺塞尔是我的父亲。

I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

我 1983 年出生在 宾夕法尼亚州的匹兹堡，

in 1983 to him, an Egyptian engineer,

我的父亲是一位 埃及裔工程师，

and a loving American mother and grade school teacher,

我有个爱我的美国母亲， 她是一名小学老师，

who together tried their best

他们尽最大的努力

to create a happy childhood for me.

为给我创造出欢乐的童年。

It wasn't until I was seven years old

直到我 7 岁的时候

that our family dynamic started to change.

家庭氛围开始出现了变化。

My father exposed me to a side of Islam

我的父亲让我接触伊斯兰的一支

that few people, including the majority of Muslims,

很少人见过，包括大部分的穆斯林，

get to see.

都没见过的一个派别。

It's been my experience that when people

我的人生经验告诉我

take the time to interact with one another,

人们与彼此相处，

it doesn't take long to realize that for the most part,

很快就意识到，很大程度上

we all want the same things out of life.

人们对生活有着相同的追求。

However, in every religion, in every population,

然而，所有宗教，所有群体，

you'll find a small percentage of people

你总能看到一小部分人

who hold so fervently to their beliefs

对他们的信仰太过狂热

that they feel they must use any means necessary

以至于认为他们应该用各种方法

to make others live as they do.

让其他人和他们过同样的生活。

A few months prior to his arrest,

在他被捕前的几个月，

he sat me down and explained that

他和我坐着聊天解释到

for the past few weekends, he and some friends

在过去的几个周末， 他和他的一些朋友

had been going to a shooting range on Long Island

在长岛（美国纽约州东南部岛屿）

for target practice.

进行目标射击训练。

He told me I'd be going with him the next morning.

他让我第二天一早和他一起去。

We arrived at Calverton Shooting Range,

我们来到凯佛顿射击场，

which unbeknownst to our group was being watched

我们并不知道自己已经

by the FBI.

被联邦调查局监视了。

When it was my turn to shoot,

轮到我射击的时候，

my father helped me hold the rifle to my shoulder

我的父亲帮我扶住 肩膀上的来福枪，

and explained how to aim at the target

并教导我如何瞄准

about 30 yards off.

30 码处的目标。

That day, the last bullet I shot

那天，我射出的最后一颗子弹

hit the small orange light that sat on top of the target

打中了目标顶上的橙色亮光，

and to everyone's surprise, especially mine,

所有人都惊呆了，尤其是我，

the entire target burst into flames.

整个目标版燃烧了。

My uncle turned to the other men,

我的叔叔转向旁边的人，

and in Arabic said, "Ibn abuh."

用阿拉伯语说到，“Ibn abuh”——

Like father, like son.

虎父无犬子。

They all seemed to get a really big laugh out of that comment,

他们当场开怀大笑起来，

but it wasn't until a few years later

几年后

that I fully understood what they thought was so funny.

我才了解他们大笑的原因，

They thought they saw in me the same destruction

他们以为我和我的父亲有着

my father was capable of.

同样的摧毁能力。

Those men would eventually be convicted

这群男人最终被指控

of placing a van filled with 1,500 pounds of explosives

将满载 1500 磅重的 炸弹的厢式货车

into the sub-level parking lot of the World Trade Center's North Tower,

停在世界贸易中心北塔的 地下停车场，

causing an explosion that killed six people

爆炸造成 6 人死亡，

and injured over 1,000 others.

同时致使超过 1000 人受伤。

These were the men I looked up to.

这些是我曾经敬仰的人。

These were the men I called ammu, which means uncle.

这些是我曾经称呼其为 ammu， 意为叔叔的人。

By the time I turned 19,

当我 19 岁的时候，

I had already moved 20 times in my life,

我已经搬超过 20 次家了，

and that instability during my childhood

童年所经历的不稳定

didn't really provide an opportunity

并未给我

to make many friends.

结交朋友的机会。

Each time I would begin to feel comfortable around someone,

每当我感到和附近人相熟时，

it was time to pack up and move to the next town.

就是我要收拾行囊 去下一个地方的时候。

Being the perpetual new face in class,

作为永远的班级新生，

I was frequently the target of bullies.

我常是同学们欺负的对象。

I kept my identity a secret from my classmates

为了不被同班同学欺负，

to avoid being targeted,

我将自己的身份保密，

but as it turns out, being the quiet, chubby new kid in class

但结果是，作为 安静又胖乎乎的新同学

was more than enough ammunition.

很轻易就成为被欺负的对象。

So for the most part, I spent my time at home

所以更多的时候， 我待在家里

reading books and watching TV

看书看电视

or playing video games.

或者是打电动。

For those reasons, my social skills were lacking,

正因为这样，我的社交能力有所缺失，

to say the least,

简单地说，

and growing up in a bigoted household,

成长在固执的家庭，

I wasn't prepared for the real world.

我没有准备好应对现实世界。

I'd been raised to judge people

我被教育成用武断的方式，

based on arbitrary measurements,

依据人们的脸或宗教，

like a person's race or religion.

来评断他人。

So what opened my eyes?

什么让我开了眼界呢？

One of my first experiences

某次经历

that challenged this way of thinking

挑战了我思考的方式

was during the 2000 presidential elections.

发生于 2000 年美国总统竞选期间。

Through a college prep program,

在预科期间，

I was able to take part

我参与了

in the National Youth Convention in Philadelphia.

在费城举办的全国青年大会。

My particular group's focus was on youth violence,

我这组的话题是关于青少年暴力，

and having been the victim of bullying for most of my life,

作为倍受欺负的受害者，

this was a subject in which I felt particularly passionate.

这个话题我很感兴趣。

The members of our group came from many different walks of life.

组员都有着不同的生活轨迹。

One day toward the end of the convention,

大会临近结束的某天，

I found out that one of the kids I had befriended

我发现我的某个朋友

was Jewish.

是犹太人。

Now, it had taken several days

我也是过了几天

for this detail to come to light,

才知晓这件事情，

and I realized that there was no natural animosity

我认识到，我们之间

between the two of us.

并没有与生俱来的仇恨。

I had never had a Jewish friend before,

我从未有过犹太朋友，

and frankly I felt a sense of pride

坦白地说，我为此感到骄傲，

in having been able to overcome a barrier

能够跨越

that for most of my life I had been led to believe

我人生绝大部分时间

was insurmountable.

认为是不可能逾越的障碍。

Another major turning point came when

另一个转折点是，

I found a summer job at Busch Gardens,

某年暑假，我在布希花园

an amusement park.

这个主题乐园打工。

There, I was exposed to people from all sorts of faiths and cultures,

我见识到有着不同信仰， 来自不同文化的人们，

and that experience proved to be fundamental

这样的经验

to the development of my character.

对我的人格发展 是至关重要的。

Most of my life, I'd been taught

因为在过去的日子， 我接收到的教育是，

that homosexuality was a sin, and by extension,

同性恋是罪恶的， 据此推断，

that all gay people were a negative influence.

所有的同性恋者都有着 消极的影响。

As chance would have it, I had the opportunity

在我打暑期工的时间里，

to work with some of the gay performers

我有机会和同性恋演员

at a show there,

一起合作，

and soon found that many were the kindest,

我很快发现，很多同性恋者

least judgmental people I had ever met.

是我所见过最善良， 最自由开放尊重他人的人。

Being bullied as a kid

在儿童时期被欺负的经历

created a sense of empathy in me

教给我要对他人的遭遇

toward the suffering of others,

感到同情和怜悯，

and it comes very unnaturally to me

对我来说，

to treat people who are kind

我会善待那些

in any other way than how I would want to be treated.

对我好的人。

Because of that feeling, I was able

因为这样的感受，我能够

to contrast the stereotypes I'd been taught as a child

用真实生活和交际经历来

with real life experience and interaction.

抵挡从孩童时期就被灌输的成见。

I don't know what it's like to be gay,

我不知道作为同性恋者的感受，

but I'm well acquainted with being judged

但我熟知那种被

for something that's beyond my control.

无法掌控的事物所评断的感受。

Then there was "The Daily Show."

接着，有个“每日秀”的节目出现了。

On a nightly basis, Jon Stewart forced me

每一晚，乔恩·斯图尔特催促我

to be intellectually honest with myself about my own bigotry

诚实面对自己的偏见，

and helped me to realize that a person's race,

帮助我认识到一个人的种族，

religion or sexual orientation

信仰和性取向

had nothing to do with the quality of one's character.

对这个人的人格没有任何关系。

He was in many ways a father figure to me

某种程度上说， 每当我迫切需要一个父亲的时候，

when I was in desperate need of one.

他就在那里。

Inspiration can often come from an unexpected place,

鼓舞人心之事 往往来自你无法预知的地方，

and the fact that a Jewish comedian had done more

事实上，一个犹太裔喜剧明星

to positively influence my worldview

积极地影响我的世界观，

than my own extremist father

比我那极端的亲生父亲

is not lost on me.

多得多。

One day, I had a conversation with my mother

某天，我和母亲谈到

about how my worldview was starting to change,

我的世界观正在改变，

and she said something to me

她对我说，

that I will hold dear to my heart

我将在生命里

for as long as I live.

一直带着尊重的心。

She looked at me with the weary eyes

她用疲倦的眼神看着我，

of someone who had experienced

她受够了

enough dogmatism to last a lifetime, and said,

被教条主义侵占的人生，

"I'm tired of hating people."

说到：“我不愿憎恨他人了。”

In that instant, I realized how much negative energy

瞬间，我意识到，在内心里承受憎恨

it takes to hold that hatred inside of you.

需要多么巨大的负能量。

Zak Ebrahim is not my real name.

扎克‧伊博黑姆不是我的本名。

I changed it when my family decided

当我的家人决定 和我父亲断绝关系时

to end our connection with my father

我改了这个名字

and start a new life.

以开始新的生活。

So why would I out myself

那么，我为什么要 出现在公众视线前

and potentially put myself in danger?

将自己置于可能的危险境地呢？

Well, that's simple.

嗯，这很容易解释。

I do it in the hopes that perhaps someone someday

我这样做是希望也许某人某天

who is compelled to use violence

当他决定使用武力 反抗社会的时候

may hear my story and realize

可能会听到我的故事，并意识到

that there is a better way,

有比动武更好的方法，

that although I had been subjected

尽管我曾被灌输

to this violent, intolerant ideology,

这样的暴力思维， 偏狭的意识，

that I did not become fanaticized.

我并没有为其所动。

Instead, I choose to use my experience

而是选择通过自己的经验

to fight back against terrorism,

来抵抗恐怖主义，

against the bigotry.

来反对偏见。

I do it for the victims of terrorism

我为了那些恐怖袭击的受害者

and their loved ones,

以及他们的亲人而这样做，

for the terrible pain and loss

为了那些被恐怖主义活动所造成的

that terrorism has forced upon their lives.

生命的苦痛和损失而这样做。

For the victims of terrorism, I will speak out

为了那些遭受恐怖袭击的 受害者，我站出来

against these senseless acts

反对这些毫无意义的袭击行动，

and condemn my father's actions.

谴责我父亲的行为。

And with that simple fact, I stand here as proof

就是这样简单的原因， 我站在这里证明

that violence isn't inherent in one's religion or race,

暴力不是宗教或种族与生俱来的，

and the son does not have to follow

儿子并不需要走上

the ways of his father.

和父亲相同的道路。

I am not my father.

我不是我的父亲。

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢。（掌声）

Thank you, everybody. (Applause)

谢谢各位。（掌声）

Thank you all. (Applause)

谢谢大家。（掌声）

Thanks a lot. (Applause)

非常感谢。（掌声）