In the Tunnels:1)Gaza's Underground Economy 地下隧道经济：加沙地带民众的生命线
文字难度：★★★☆
“七八年前,一个两岁的孩子都会数数数到15,不是他聪明,而是养成了一有哈马斯袭击警报,就得在15秒内跑到防空洞的习惯。战争伤害了我们的孩子。”以色列驻华大使安泰毅今年一月在接受《中国新闻周刊》记者的专访中如是说。这是来自以色列的故事,但你也可以在加沙找到同样的例子。
巴以冲突由来已久,加沙地带的战火硝烟似乎从未停止过。抛开政治、种族等是是非非的问题,我们应该质疑和反思的,是战争的本质和其造成的严重后果。其实,对无辜的平民百姓来说,和平安宁的生活才是最重要的!也正因如此,地下隧道经济才成为封锁之下的加沙地带民众通往外部世界的唯一生命线!
又到岁末了,虔诚地许下第一个新年愿望:祈愿世界和平!人们幸福安康! ——Maisie
A 30-foot 2)drop was the only way into the dark, earthy 3)abyss, and the Palestinian tunnel workers were giggling nervously at the prospect of a foreign journalist going for a 4)plunge. It didn’t seem like a good idea. Apart from the descent, there had been Israeli air strikes for the past three days targeting the dense smuggling network that snakes beneath the 5)Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt. An Israeli F-16 was circling overhead at that very moment.
一段30英尺(约9.1米)深的井穴是进入这黑暗泥泞深渊的唯一途径,看着一个外国记者要一探险穴,那些巴勒斯坦的隧道工人们在窃笑。这看起来不像是个好主意。除了爬下去本身就有危险之外,过去三天以来以色列一直在针对加沙地带与埃及交界这段蜿蜒复杂的偷运网络进行空袭。此时此刻,一架以色列F-16战斗机正在我们头顶上盘旋。 
I took the ladder. Underground, the space was narrow and damp. Less than a kilometer at half-crawl and I could be in Egypt, popping out at someone’s house, shop or farm. Welcome to the highways of the economy of the Palestinians of Gaza. On the outside, on the 3-mile (5 km) 6)fringe of 7)Rafah town, are sandy hills dotted with tents, 8)tarps and 9)bulldozers. Underneath lies what passes for commerce, the 10)surreptitious journey of goods that help keep the territory running.
我爬梯子进入隧道。地下空间狭窄而潮湿。连走带爬不到一公里,我就可以到达埃及境内,突然出现在某人的家里、商店里或农场里。欢迎来到加沙地带巴勒斯坦人的经济干线。在隧道外面,在距拉法镇边缘3英里(5公里)处的地方是一片沙丘,上面零星分布着一些帐篷、防水布棚和推土机。而在地底下则暗藏着商业通道,这种偷偷摸摸运送过来的货物帮助维持这个地区的日常运转。
“There is only one economy—there’s a tunnel economy,” says John Ging, head of the 11)U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip. “You have zero exports and zero commercial imports through the (Israeli-controlled) crossing points. All that is allowed in is humanitarian aid and supplies... In terms of economic activity, there is no economic activity other than the tunnel economy.”
“这里只有一种经济——那就是隧道经济,”加沙地带联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处的负责人约翰·金说,“这里既没有商品出口,也没有通过(以色列控制下的)边境点进行的商品进口贸易。只有人道主义援助和物资能够通过……说到经济活动,除了隧道经济以外就没有别的什么经济活动了。”
When the Islamist organization 12)Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel 13)all but shut the tiny coastal territory down, imposing a 14)suffocating blockade on Gaza’s land and sea borders that keeps the people in and the goods out. That’s when Gazans turned to the tunnels. “When the siege was first imposed and the Israelis started to ban entry of fuel, gasoline, etc., the locals here were forced to look for another source,” says Khalid al-Hubi, a Rafah shopkeeper who deals mostly in smuggled generators. But, he adds, “The tunnel trade is expensive and the customers have to pay all the charges 15)incurred from Cairo until it reaches their hands in Gaza.”
2007年,伊斯兰教组织哈马斯取得加沙地带控制权后,以色列可以说是把这片小小的滨海地区封闭了起来,把加沙地带的陆路和海路边境掐得紧紧的,严格限制人员流入和货物流出。也就是从那时起,加沙人转向隧道买卖。“封锁政策最初推行时,以色列人开始禁止燃料、汽油等商品进入。那时候,这里的本地人被迫寻找其他途径,”拉法镇一位店主哈立德·阿尔—胡比说,他买卖的多是走私来的发电机。但他又补充道:“隧道贸易非常昂贵,顾客必须承担从开罗运到加沙直至最后到手的一切费用。”
If Gaza 16)runs off a tunnel economy, Rafah is its tunnel town. In Najma Square, in the center of Rafah, the fruits of tunnel labor meet their first customers. Encircling the square are tables of TV sets, fans, 17)blenders and generators; 18)stalls packed with refrigerators, washing machines and ovens—and this is just the electrical side of town. Moving west toward the border, you see more goods: boxes of cigarettes, giant19)sacks of potato chips and sacks of cement. Then you pass the warehouses that sell the tools used to physically shape the tunnel industry: shovels, rope, 20)pulleys and electrical 21)cords, plus 22)pickaxes, hammers, 23)nuts, 24)bolts and screws in all sizes. The industry of making the tunnels is a booming business on its own.
如果加沙地带进行的是隧道经济,那么拉法镇就是其隧道商业中心。在拉法镇中心的纳加玛广场上,通过隧道辛辛苦苦运来的东西迎来了它们的第一批顾客。广场四周的桌子上摆放着电视机、风扇、搅拌机和发电机;货摊上堆满了冰箱、洗衣机和烤炉——而这不过是小镇的电器销售区。向边界的西边走,你会看到更多货物:整箱的烟草、特大包的马铃薯片和一袋袋水泥。然后,你会经过一些货仓在卖令隧道经济成型的各种五金工具:铲子、绳子、滑轮和电线,以及各种型号的镐头、锤子、螺帽、螺栓和螺钉。隧道挖掘这一行业本身亦是个快速发展的产业。
Rafah’s tunnels have been around since the 1980s, but they used to constitute a far more secretive trade. When the blockade started in 2007, a network that had been used primarily to smuggle the weapons of the Palestinian 25)intifadeh was quickly transformed into Gaza’s only lifeline to the outside world. Now, tunnel workers say, there are hundreds of tunnels—some weaving right over one another at different depths—that are mostly used to import commercial goods that range from food and 26)baby formula to computers and even cars.
拉法镇的隧道早在二十世纪八十年代就存在了,不过以前是为了更隐秘的贸易而存在的。当2007年封锁开始时,一个曾经被用来为巴勒斯坦的起义者走私武器的隧道网络很快变成了加沙地带通向外部世界的唯一生命线。现在,隧道工人们说,已经有成百上千条隧道——某些甚至在地下蜿蜒相叠,只不过是深度不同罢了——大多数都是用来输入商品的,从食物到婴儿奶粉,到电脑,甚至汽车,一应俱全。
Tunnels vary in size, shape and purpose and are built with varying levels of sophistication. Some are shallow, fragile-looking dirt 27)shafts, with narrow openings; others have wide, wood-enforced passageways. One tunnel, meant exclusively for livestock, descends gradually underground on both the Egyptian and Gazan sides. The workers say it’s easier on the cows and donkeys, which would otherwise have to be hauled out with a generator-operated pulley.
这些隧道的大小、形状和目的都各不相同,复杂程度也不一致。有些挖得很浅,是些看起来不大牢靠的泥槽坑道,出入口狭小;有些则是通道宽敞,而且用了木材加固。有一条隧道是专为运送牲畜而建的,其分别在埃及和加沙地带的两个入口均有缓降至地下的坡道。隧道工人们说,这方便了牛和驴子进出,否则就要靠由发电机带动的滑轮吊车来把牲畜垂直拉上来。
For Israel, the tunnels have always been a key political target, first for the weapons and now, perhaps, for their link to the Hamas government, which many people here say profits off the tunnel trade. Last winter, Israeli 28)forces destroyed most of the tunnel network, along with much of the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure, during its three-week offensive, 29)Operation Cast Lead.
对于以色列人来说,这些隧道一直是主要的政治目标,先是因为武器,现在则可能是因为他们与哈马斯政府的联系,即如当地许多人所说的,隧道贸易令哈马斯政府从中获利。去年冬天,以色列军队在其为期三周的“铸铅行动”中摧毁了大部分隧道网络,还有很多加沙地带的基础设施。
But the tunnel workers got right back underground. “We are just trying to earn a living here. We have no other choice,” says Abu Obeida, a potato-chip and clothes smuggler who has been working in tunnels for a year and a half and says he used to be a 30)contractor. Says al-Hubi, the shopkeeper: “Even if Israel destroys all of the tunnels entirely, I’m quite sure that the tunnels will only be dug again and again.”
但是隧道工人们很快又回到了地下。“我们只不过想在这里谋生罢了。我们别无选择,”阿布·欧贝达说,他专门走私马铃薯片和服装,已经在隧道里工作了一年半。他说他曾经是个工程承包商。店主阿尔—胡比说:“即使以色列人完全摧毁了所有的隧道,我坚信,大家会一再挖出新隧道来。”
Rafah residents know the tunnel economy is dangerous. Aside from Israeli air strikes, tunnel collapses and accidents like 31)electrocution are regular occurrences. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 120 people have died in tunnel-related deaths since 2007. But desperation keeps most tunnel workers on the job. Under the blockade, Gaza’s unemployment rate has become the highest in the world.
拉法镇的居民都知道隧道经济的危险性。除了以色列的空袭之外,隧道坍塌和诸如触电之类的事故经常发生。加沙卫生部说,自2007年以来,与隧道相关的死亡人数已超过了120人。但绝境使得大多数隧道工人们依然坚持着他们的工作。在封锁之下,加沙地区的失业率在全世界最高。
If the crossings opened up, many say all that would change. “It’s accurate to say that the economy has been destroyed. All aspects of the commercial sector are in 32)tatters, including the 33)physical infrastructure,” says the U.N.’s Ging. “But what we have here is a phenomenal entrepreneurial spirit, and the only thing we need to revive the economy of Gaza is the creation of opportunity, which means 34)lifting the siege.”
很多人说,如果边境开放了,一切都会随之发生改变。“可以准确的说,当地经济已经被破坏了。商业活动的方方面面都被破坏殆尽,包括物质基础设施,”联合国工作人员金说,“但是我们这里拥有非凡的商业头脑,要复苏加沙地区的经济,我们唯一所需的就是创造机会,即解除封锁。”
