Name: 【TED】我的父親是恐怖份子，但我選擇了和平 Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace.
Uploaded: 2023-07-14T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 9 min 14 s

On November 5th, 1990, a man named El-Sayyid Nosair walked into a hotel in Manhattan and assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane, the leader of the Jewish Defense League.

1990 年 11 月 5 日， 一位名叫埃爾．塞伊德．諾塞爾的男子走入曼哈頓的一間旅館，並刺殺拉猶太防衛聯盟的首領─比梅厄．卡赫納。

情態副詞

Nosair was initially found not guilty of the murder,but while serving time on lesser charges,

諾塞爾一開始並未因謀殺而獲罪，但當他因輕微指控而入獄服刑的期間，

he and other men began planning attacks on a dozen New York City landmarks, including tunnels, synagogues and the United Nations headquarters.

他和一些人開始計劃襲擊紐約市一些地標， 包括隧道、猶太教會堂和聯合國總部。

Thankfully, those plans were foiled by an FBI informant.

謝天謝地，這些計劃因美國聯邦調查局的線人而被阻止。

Sadly, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center was not.

難過的是，1993 年世貿中心爆炸襲擊還是發生了。

Nosair would eventually be convicted for his involvement in the plot.

諾塞爾最終被指控策劃了這場犯罪。

埃爾．塞伊德．諾塞爾是我的父親。

I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1983 to him, an Egyptian engineer,

我在 1983 年出生於賓夕法尼亞州的匹茲堡，我的父親是名埃及裔工程師，

and a loving American mother and grade school teacher, who together tried their best to create a happy childhood for me.

我有個愛我的美國母親， 她是一名小學老師，他們盡了最大努力為我創造了歡樂的童年。

It wasn't until I was seven years old that our family dynamic started to change.

直到我 7 歲時，家庭氣氛開始出現變化。

My father exposed me to a side of Islam that few people,including the majority of Muslims,get to see.

我的父親讓我接觸伊斯蘭一支少見，包括大部分的穆斯林都沒見過的派別。

It's been my experience that when people take the time to interact with one another,

我的人生經驗告訴我，當人們與彼此相處

it doesn't take long to realize that for the most part,we all want the same things out of life.

很快就會意識到，很大程度上，我們對生活有著同樣的追求。

However, in every religion, in every population,

然而，在每一個宗教、每一個群體中，

you'll find a small percentage of people who hold so fervently to their beliefs that they feel they must use any means necessary to make others live as they do.

你總會看到一小部分人對他們的信仰太過狂熱，以至於使他們認為應該用盡方法讓其他人和他們過同樣的生活。

A few months prior to his arrest, he sat me down and explained that for the past few weekends,

在他被捕前的幾個月，他和我坐著聊天，解釋到過去幾個週末，

he and some friends had been going to a shooting range on Long Island for target practice.

他和一些朋友在長島(美國紐約州東南部島嶼)進行目標射擊訓練。

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

他要我第二天一早和他一起去。

We arrived at Calverton Shooting Range,which unbeknownsted to our group was being watched by the FBI.

我們來到凱佛頓射擊場，並不知道自己已經被聯邦調查局監視了。

When it was my turn to shoot, my father helped me hold the rifle to my shoulder and explained how to aim at the target about 30 yards off.

輪到我射擊的時候，我的父親幫我扶住肩膀上的來福槍，並教導我如何瞄準 30 碼處的目標。

That day, the last bullet I shot hit the small orange light that sat on top of the target and to everyone's surprise, especially mine,

那天，我射出的最後一顆子彈打中目標頂上的橙色亮光， 所有人都驚呆了，尤其是我，

My uncle turned to the other men, and in Arabic said, "Ibn abuh." Like father, like son.

我的叔叔轉向旁人，用阿拉伯語說到：「Ibn abuh」─虎父無犬子。

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

but it wasn't until a few years later that I fully understood what they thought was so funny.

幾年後我才理解他們大笑的原因。

They thought they saw in me the same destruction my father was capable of.

他們以為我和我的父親有著相同的摧毀能力。

Those men would eventually be convicted of placing a van filled with 1,500 pounds of explosives into the sub-level parking lot of the World Trade Center's North Tower,

這群男人最終被控將滿載 1500 磅重炸彈的貨車停在世界貿易中心北塔的地下停車場，

causing an explosion that killed six people and injured over 1,000 others.

爆炸造成 6 人死亡，同時有超過 1000 人受傷。

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

這些是我曾稱為 ammu， 意為叔叔的人。

By the time I turned 19, I had already moved 20 times in my life,

當我十九歲時，我已經般超過二十次家。

and that instability during my childhood didn't really provide an opportunity to make many friends.

童年所經歷的不穩定並未給我交朋友的機會。

Each time I'd begin to feel comfortable around someone,

每當我感到與某人開始熟識時。

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

就是我要收拾行囊，搬到下個城鎮的時候。

Being the perpetual new face in class, I was frequently the target of bullies.

永遠地成為班上的新面孔，讓我常成為被霸凌的對象。

I kept my identity a secret from my classmates to avoid being targeted,

為了不被同學當成霸凌目標，我將自己的身份保密。

but as it turns out, being the quiet, chubby new kid in class was more than enough ammunition.

但結果是，作為安靜又胖胖的新同學，很輕易就成為被欺侮的對象。

So for the most part, I spent my time at home reading books and watching TV or playing video games.

所以更多時候，我待在家裡看書、看電視或打電動。

For those reasons, my social skills were lacking, to say the least,

因為這些原因，我的社交技巧有所缺失， 說簡單點是這樣，

and growing up in a bigoted household, I wasn't prepared for the real world.

成長在一個執迷頑固的家庭，我還未準備好面對現實世界。

I'd been raised to judge people based on arbitrary measurements, like a person's race or religion.

我被教育成用武斷的方式，依據人們的種族或宗教，來評斷他人。

One of my first experiences that challenged this way of thinking was during the 2000 presidential elections.

某次經歷挑戰了我思考的方式發生於 2000 年美國總統競選期間。

Through a college prep program, I was able to take part in the National Youth Convention in Philadelphia.

在預科期間， 我參與了在費城舉辦的全國青年大會。

My particular group's focus was on youth violence,

我參與的小組聚焦於青少年暴力，

and having been the victim of bullying for most of my life, this was a subject in which I felt particularly passionate.

作為倍受霸凌的受害者，這個專案讓我很感興趣。

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

這個團體的參與者有著不同的生活軌跡。

One day toward the end of the convention,

I found out that one of the kids I had befriended was Jewish.

我發現我的一位朋友是猶太人。

Now, it had taken several days for this detail to come to light,

我也是過了幾天才知道這件事情，

and I realized that there was no natural animosity between the two of us.

而我意識到，我們之間並沒有與生俱來的憎恨。

and frankly I felt a sense of pride in having been able to overcome a barrier that for most of my life I had been led to believe was insurmountable.

坦白地說，我為此感到驕傲，因為我戰勝了我人生絕大部分時間都認為是無法克服的障礙。

Another major turning point came when I found a summer job at Busch Gardens, an amusement park.

另一個重要的轉捩點來自我在布希花園主題樂園的暑期工作

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

在那哩，我接觸到擁有各種信仰與文化的人們，

and that experience proved to be fundamental to the development of my character.

而那樣的經驗對我的人格發展至關重要。

Most of my life, I'd been taught that homosexuality was a sin,

在我絕大部分的人聲中，我被教導同性戀是種犯罪，

and by extension, that all gay people were a negative influence.

據此推斷， 所有同性戀者都有著負面的影響。

As chance would have it, I had the opportunity to work with some of the gay performers at a show there,

在我打工的日子裡，我有幸能與一些同性戀表演者一起工作。

and soon found that many were the kindest, least judgmental people I had ever met.

我很快地發現，許多同性戀者是我遇過最善良，最尊重他人的一群人。

Being bullied as a kid created a sense of empathy in me toward the suffering of others,

在兒時被霸凌的經歷，讓我對於他人的遭遇感到同情和憐憫，

and it comes very unnaturally to me to treat people who are kind in any other way than how I would want to be treated.

對我來說， 我會善待那些對我好的人。

Because of that feeling, I was able to contrast the stereotypes I'd been taught as a child with real life experience and interaction.

因為那樣的感受，我得以將兒時被教導的刻板印象與真實的人生經歷與互動做比較。

I don't know what it's like to be gay, but I'm well acquainted with being judged for something that's beyond my control.

我不知道作為同性戀者是什麼樣的感受，但我深知被無法掌控的事物所評斷的感受。

On a nightly basis, Jon Stewart forced me to be intellectually honest with myself about my own bigotry and helped me to realize

每一晚，約翰．斯圖爾都會催促我誠實面對自己的偏見，並幫助我認識到

that a person's race, religion or sexual orientation had nothing to do with the quality of one's character.

一個人的種族、 信仰和性取向與這個人的人格沒有任何關聯。

He was in many ways a father figure to me when I was in desperate need of one.

某種程度上說，每當我迫切需要一個父親的時候，他就在那裡。

Inspiration can often come from an unexpected place,

and the fact that a Jewish comedian had done more to positively influence my worldview than my own extremist father is not lost on me.

而事實上，一位猶太喜劇演員相較於我的激進主義的父親，在我的世界觀中扮演了更多正面的影響力。

One day, I had a conversation with my mother about how my worldview was starting to change,

有一天，我與母親聊天，聊到我的世界觀正在改變。

and she said something to me that I will hold dear to my heart for as long as I live.

她告訴我一件我會永遠放在心中的事。

She looked at me with the weary eyes of someone who had experienced enough dogmatism to last a lifetime,

她用疲憊的雙眼看著我，看起來似乎受夠了教條主義控制的人生。

並說了：「我已經厭倦討厭人們。」

In that instant, I realized how much negative energy it takes to hold that hatred inside of you.

那一瞬間，我意識到，在內心裡承受憎恨需要多麼巨大的負面能量。

扎克．伊博黑姆不是我的本名。

I changed it when my family decided to end our connection with my father and start a new life.

當我的家人決定與我的父親切段聯繫並展開新生活後，我改了名字。

So why would I out myself and potentially put myself in danger? Well, that's simple.

所以為什麼我要站出來並讓我自己陷於危險之中？嗯，那很簡單。

I do it in the hopes that perhaps someone someday who is compelled to use violence may hear my story and realize that there is a better way,

我這麼做是希望，也許某人在某天決定使用武力反抗社會的時候， 可能會聽到我的故事並意識到有個更好的方法

that although I had been subjected to this violent, intolerant ideology, that I did not become fanaticized.

儘管我曾被灌輸這樣的暴力思維、偏狹思想， 我並沒有因而狂熱。

Instead, I choose to use my experience to fight back against terrorism, against the bigotry.

相反的，我選擇用自身經驗抵抗恐怖主義與固執。

I do it for the victims of terrorism and their loved ones,

我這麼做是為了所有恐怖主義受害者與他們的愛人，

for the terrible pain and loss that terrorism has forced upon their lives.

為了那些被恐怖主義活動所導致的生命的苦痛與損失而做。

For the victims of terrorism, I will speak out against these senseless acts and condemn my father's actions.

為了那些遭受恐怖攻擊的受害者，我會站出來反對這些毫無意義的行動，並譴責我父親的行為。

And with that simple fact, I stand here as proof that violence isn't inherent in one's religion or race,

這樣簡單的原因，讓我站在這裡，證明暴力並非宗教信仰或種族與生俱來的，

and the son does not have to follow the ways of his father.

而且，兒子不需要走上與父親相同的道路。