Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression

A note from Karen Attiah, Global Opinions editor

贾马尔•哈苏吉（沙特籍资深记者）：阿拉伯世界最需要的是言论自由

全球意见编辑Karen Attiah（华盛顿邮报）的便笺（领英地址https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenattiah/）

I received this column from Jamal Khashoggi’s translator and assistant the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul. The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post. This column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for. I will be forever grateful he chose The Post as his final journalistic home one year ago and gave us the chance to work together.

贾马尔在伊斯坦布尔失踪后的第二天，我收到了贾马尔的翻译和助手（同一个人？）发来的这篇专栏文章。文章之所以被推迟出版，是因为我们多么希望贾马尔能回来和我一起编辑，但是，现在我必须面对现实：他不会回来了，这是我要为他的专栏编辑的最后一篇文章，这个专栏完美地诠释了他对阿拉伯世界拥有自由的承诺和热情，他也终于为自由付出了生命，一年前，他选择华盛顿邮报作为他新闻事业的最后一站，给了我们合作的机会，我会永远感谢他所做的一切。

I was recently online looking at the 2018 “Freedom in the World” report published by Freedom House and came to a grave realization. There is only one country in the Arab world that has been classified as“free.”That nation is Tunisia.Jordan,Morocco and Kuwait come second,with a classification of“partly free.”The rest of the countries in the Arab world are classified as“not free.”

最近，我在网上查阅了自由之家出版的2018年《世界自由》报告，并意识到这一点，阿拉伯世界只有一个国家被划为“自由国度”，这个国家是突尼斯，约旦、摩洛哥和科威特位居第二，被划为“部分自由国家”，阿拉伯世界的其他国家被划为“不自由国家”。

As a result,Arabs living in these countries are either uninformed or misinformed. They are unable to adequately address,much less publicly discuss,matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives. A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche,and while many do not believe it,a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative. Sadly,this situation is unlikely to change.

因此，生活在这些国家的阿拉伯人要么是所知甚少，要么就是被误导的，他们无法充分解决影响地区和日常生活的事情，更不要说公开地去讨论了，国营叙事主导着公众心理，尽管许多人不相信，但大多数人却成了这种虚假叙事的受害者，遗憾的是，这种情况不大可能改变。

The Arab world was ripe with hope during the spring of 2011. Journalists,academics and the general population were brimming with expectations of a bright and free Arab society within their respective countries. They expected to be emancipated from the hegemony of their governments and the consistent interventions and censorship of information. These expectations were quickly shattered，these societies either fell back to the old status quo or faced even harsher conditions than before.

2011年春天，阿拉伯世界充满希望，记者、学者和普通民众，对在各自国家建立一个光明和自由的阿拉伯社会充满了期待，他们希望从政府的霸权、信息的干预和审查的制度中解放出来，但是，这些期望很快就被粉碎了，这些社会要么回到旧况中，甚至面临比以前更加严峻的状况。

My dear friend,the prominent Saudi writer Saleh al-Shehi,wrote one of the most famous columns ever published in the Saudi press. He unfortunately is now serving an unwarranted five-year prison sentencefor supposed comments contrary to the Saudi establishment. The Egyptian government’s seizure of the entire print run of a newspaper,al-Masry al Youm,did not enrage or provoke a reaction from colleagues. These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead,these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence.

我的好朋友，著名的沙特作家，萨利赫·阿勒·谢伊，写了沙特媒体上最著名的专栏之一，不幸的是，他现在因被认为有悖于沙特当局的意见而被判处五年徒刑，埃及政府没收了《青年报》的全部印刷品，这并没有激怒或激起同事们的任何反应，这些行动不再受到国际社会强烈反对，只是有些零星的谴责，接着便是沉默。

As a result,Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate. There was a time when journalists believed the Internet would liberate information from the censorship and control associated with print media. But these governments,whose very existence relies on the control of information,have aggressively blocked the Internet. They have also arrested local reporters and pressured advertisers to harm the revenue of specific publications.

结果，阿拉伯政府通过压迫媒体发声来绝对控制舆论。曾经有一段时间，记者们认为互联网可以把信息从被高度审查和控制的印刷媒体中解放出来，但是，这些政府依然有力量去封锁互联网，而且，他们还逮捕当地记者，给广告商施压，减少那些出版物的营收，迫使媒体妥协。

There are a few oases that continue to embody the spirit of the Arab Spring. Qatar’s government continues to support international news coverage, in contrast to its neighbors’ efforts to uphold the control of information to support the“old Arab order.”Even in Tunisia and Kuwait, where the press is considered at least“partly free,”the media focuses on domestic issues but not issues faced by the greater Arab world. They are hesitant to provide a platform for journalists from Saudi Arabia,Egypt and Yemen. Even Lebanon, the Arab world’s crown jewel when it comes to press freedom, has fallen victim to the polarization and influence of pro-Iran Hezbollah.

有一些自由国度，继续体现着阿拉伯之春的精神，卡塔尔政府继续支持国际新闻报道，与其邻国，努力控制信息流动，以支持“旧的阿拉伯秩序”做法，形成鲜明对比，甚至在突尼斯和科威特，媒体也被认为是至少“部分自由”的，他们关注的是国内问题，而不是整个阿拉伯世界所面临的问题，他们不愿意为来自沙特阿拉伯、埃及和也门的记者提供平台，说到禁止言论自由，即使是阿拉伯的亲儿子黎巴嫩，也已成为亲伊朗真主党两极分化的牺牲品。

The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain,imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power. During the Cold War,Radio Free Europe,which grew over the years into a critical institution,played an important role in fostering and sustaining the hope of freedom. Arabs need something similar. In 1967,the New York Times and The Post took joint ownership of the International Herald Tribune newspaper,which went on to become a platform for voices from around the world.

阿拉伯世界正面临着它自己的铁幕，不是境外势力强加的，而是国内力量争夺权力造成的，自由欧洲广播电台，自冷战以来，已成长为一个重要的机构，它在促进和维持自由的希望方面发挥了重要作用，阿拉伯人需要类似的东西，1967年，《纽约时报》和《华盛顿邮报》合办了《国际先驱论坛报》，该报后来成为为全球发声的平台。

My publication,The Post, has taken the initiative to translate many of my pieces and publish them in Arabic. For that,I am grateful. Arabs need to read in their own language so they can understand and discuss the various aspects and complications of democracy in the United States and the West. If an Egyptian reads an article exposing the actual cost of a construction project in Washington, then he or she would be able to better understand the implications of similar projects in his or her community.

《华盛顿邮报》翻译了我的许多作品，并用阿拉伯语出版，为此，我非常感激，阿拉伯人需要用自己的语言阅读，这样，他们就能够从多维度去理解和讨论美国和西方民的复杂性，如果一个埃及人读到一篇文章揭露了华盛顿一个建筑项目的实际成本，那么他或她将能够更好地理解他或她的社区中类似项目的真实情况。

The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices. We suffer from poverty, mismanagement and poor education. Through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.

阿拉伯世界需要旧媒体实现现代化，这样公民就可以了解全球事件，更重要的是，我们需要为阿拉伯世界的声音提供平台，我们遭受贫困、管理制度不够完善，教育资源也匮乏。创建一个独立的国际论坛，脱离民族主义政府，宣传民族仇恨的影响，阿拉伯世界的普通人将能够解决他们的社会所面临的结构性问题。