紐時賞析／在歐洲像異類 從根源看愛爾蘭為何挺巴勒斯坦

圖爲巴勒斯坦民衆爲躲避攻擊而逃離北加薩。(路透)

Tracing the Deep Roots of Ireland’s Support for Palestinians

追溯愛爾蘭挺巴勒斯坦人民的根源

Under the light drizzle of a Tuesday morning last month, Ríonach Ní Néill and a group of friends set up a small platform in front of the U.S. Embassy in Dublin.

上個月，一個下着綿綿細雨的週二早晨，李歐娜赫．尼尼爾和一羣朋友在美國駐都柏林大使館前設置了一個小平臺。

Then they took out a stack of papers. For the next 11 1/2 hours, Ní Néill and others took turns reading out thousands of names — each one a person killed since Israel started bombarding the Gaza Strip in the war, according to a list released by health authorities in Gaza.

接着，他們拿出一疊紙。之後的十一個半小時，尼尼爾和其他人輪流朗誦上千個名字，據加薩衛生部所發佈的名單，每一個名字都屬於以色列開始轟炸加薩走廊後，於戰爭期間死去的人們。

It was an attempt to convey the enormity of the loss of life, she said.

她說，他們試圖表達逝去性命之多。

In Ireland, support for Palestinian civilians runs deep, rooted in what many see as a shared history of British colonialism and the experience of a seemingly intractable and traumatic conflict, which in Ireland’s case came to a close with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

在愛爾蘭，對巴勒斯坦平民的支持根深柢固，根植於許多人所認爲兩國共享的歷史經驗，包括都曾受英國殖民統治，以及分別經歷一場貌似難解且創傷性的衝突，只是在愛爾蘭的例子中，衝突最終以1998年的耶穌受難日協議畫下句點。

Since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza, Ireland has emerged as something of an outlier in Europe for its stance on the conflict.

哈瑪斯十月七日對以色列發動攻擊、導致以色列官方所聲稱約1200人喪命，以及後續加薩遭轟炸以來，愛爾蘭在以巴衝突中的立場使其在歐洲像個異類。

While condemning the Hamas atrocities, lawmakers across Ireland’s political spectrum were among the first in Europe to call for the protection of Palestinian civilians and denounce the scale of Israel’s response, which has left more than 15,000 people dead, according to health officials in Gaza — a rate of casualties with few precedents in the 21st century.

橫跨各政治立場的愛爾蘭議員除了譴責哈瑪斯暴行，也是首批呼籲保護巴勒斯坦平民、譴責以色列回擊力度的歐洲議員之一。根據加薩衛生部，以色列的攻擊已導致逾一萬五千人喪命，傷亡率在21世紀罕見前例。

Last month, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he strongly believed that Israel had the right to defend itself, but that what was unfolding in Gaza “resembles something approaching revenge.”

愛爾蘭總理瓦拉德卡上個月表示，他深信以色列有自衛權，但加薩正在發生的事情「已近似於復仇」。

Those views are mainstream in Ireland. In a poll published last month, about 71% of respondents classified Israel’s response as “disproportionately severe.” About 65% also said that Hamas should be officially proscribed as a terrorist organization. Tens of thousands have taken part in weekly protests calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza.

這在愛爾蘭是主流觀點。上個月發佈的一份民調顯示，約71%受訪者認爲以色列的迴應「嚴厲到不成比例」。也有約65%受訪者說，應正式宣告哈瑪斯爲恐怖組織。數以萬計民衆參加每週舉行的示威，要求以色列停止攻擊加薩。

Jane Ohlmeyer, a history professor at Trinity College Dublin and author of “Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism and the Early Modern World,” said the country’s status as a former British colony had “undoubtedly shaped how people from Ireland engage with post-colonial conflicts.”

都柏林「三一學院」歷史教授、《製造帝國：愛爾蘭、帝國主義及早期現代世界》作者珍．歐麥爾說，愛爾蘭的前英國殖民地身分「無疑形塑了愛爾蘭人蔘與後殖民衝突的方式」。

文／Megan Specia 譯／陳曉慈