《中英對照讀新聞》Tom and Jerry are… terrorists? Egyptian official blames kids’ cartoon for rise of ISIS 《湯姆與傑利》是…恐怖份子？埃及官員指責兒童卡通導致伊斯蘭國崛起

◎陳正健

An Egyptian government official has blamed Tom and Jerry for the rise of ISIS - claiming the characters encourage extremism and teach children that you can blow people up.

一名埃及政府官員指責卡通《湯姆與傑利》導致「伊斯蘭國」崛起，聲稱劇中角色鼓動極端主義，教導孩童可以亂炸別人。

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During an address at Cairo University on Tuesday, the head of Egypt’s Information Service, Salah Abdel Sadek, blamed the classic cartoon Tom and Jerry, which feature comical "battles" between a dim-witted cat and cunning mouse.

在週二於開羅大學的一場演說中，埃及新聞部部長薩拉．阿巴德．沙戴克將矛頭指向經典卡通《湯姆與傑利》，劇情描述一隻愚笨的貓咪與一隻狡猾老鼠間的滑稽「戰爭」。

He said the children’s cartoon portrays violence in a funny manner and sends the message that "yes, I can hit him… and I can blow him up with explosives". It’s the cause of increasing violence and extremism in the Middle East.

他表示，這部兒童卡通以笑鬧方式呈現暴力，並傳達「是的，我可以揍他…和我可以拿炸藥轟他」的訊息。這是中東暴力和極端主義興起的原因。

Sadek also claimed that when young people are put under social pressure to resort to violence, they consider it normal and justifiable. However, his comments have been met with ridicule on social media.

沙戴克還聲稱，當年輕人置身訴諸暴力的社會壓力之下，他們會認為暴行是正常且合理的。不過，他的評論在社群網站上遭到譏諷。

One Twitter user said "ISIS fighters may have seen too many Tom and Jerry cartoons, in their childhood. Now the middle East is on fire."

一名「推特」用戶表示：「伊斯蘭國戰士可能在童年看過太多的《湯姆與傑利》卡通。以致中東現在戰火燎原。」

新聞辭典

comical：形容詞，滑稽的，好笑的。例句：Everyone laughed at her comical remarks.（每個人都嘲笑她滑稽的評論。）

cunning：形容詞，狡猾的，奸詐的。例句：By a cunning trick he became heir of the rich widow. （他策劃一個狡猾的騙局，成為富有寡婦的繼承人。）

justifiable：形容詞，正當的，有理由的。例句：None of these practices is justifiable. （這些作法都不合理。）