批评者在抨击阿拉伯语教学项目前应先做好功课当我同意担任卡塔尔大使馆教育倡议顾问时，我预料到会有批评。但我没想到会迎来一场谎言风暴。
Critics should do their homework before attacking Arabic language programs I expected criticism when I agreed to consult with the Embassy of Qatar on its education initiatives. But I did not foresee the torrent of falsehoods that would come.
卡塔尔在中东扮演着重要且有时颇为复杂的角色。我以为自己作为前教育部长的经历，至少能帮助理清其活动的这一方面。我万万没想到，一个帮助美国学生学习阿拉伯语的卡塔尔项目，会被描绘成“渗透”美国公立学校的企图。
Qatar plays an important and sometimes complicated role in the Middle East. I thought my experience as a former secretary of Education could help clarify at least that part of its activities. I did not expect a Qatari program that helps American students learn Arabic to be portrayed as an effort to “infiltrate” our public schools.
质疑卡塔尔国际基金会的组织正在推行这一论点。该基金会曾提供资助，支持美国学校的阿拉伯语教学项目。事实是，美国需要更多语言教育，而非更少。审视应当让位于事实。
That is the argument being advanced by organizations that have raised concerns about Qatar Foundation International, which provided grants to support Arabic language programs in American schools. The fact is, America needs more language education, not less. And scrutiny needs to yield to the facts.
在卡塔尔国际基金会的项目下，美国学校保留了教学内容的控制权。资金来源透明。学生获得了学习一门新语言的正规教育机会。他们得到的仅此而已，别无其他。
Under the Qatar Foundation International program, American schools retained control of what was taught. The funding was transparent. Students got a legitimate educational opportunity to learn a new language. They got only that and nothing more.
批评者引用了布鲁克林第261公立学校（P.S. 261）的一个案例，那里一张教室地图将以色列地区标注为巴勒斯坦。卡塔尔国际基金会曾资助该校的阿拉伯语教学项目，这张地图迅速成为关于卡塔尔影响力的更大叙事的一部分。
Critics cite an instance from P.S. 261 in Brooklyn where a classroom map labeled the area of Israel as Palestine. Qatar Foundation International had supported an Arab language program at the school, and the map quickly became part of a larger narrative about Qatari influence.
但资助一个项目与提供某件特定教室用品之间有着重要区别。纽约市公立学校总监戴维·班克斯在国会作证时表示，那位教师是纽约市雇员，她在访问耶路撒冷时用自己的钱买下了这张地图。这张地图与卡塔尔国际基金会毫无关系。
But there is an important difference between funding a program and supplying a particular classroom item. New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks testified before Congress that the teacher, a New York City employee, had obtained the map with her own funds while visiting Jerusalem. The map had nothing to do with Qatar Foundation International.
康涅狄格州纽黑文市的情况也是如此，卡塔尔基金会国际部自2018年起一直资助该市的阿拉伯语教学。捍卫民主基金会在其揭露性的报告中将纽黑文列入其中，将外语教育拨款描述为国家安全和外国影响威胁。
The same is true in New Haven, Connecticut, where Qatar Foundation International has supported Arabic instruction since 2018. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies includes New Haven in its exposé-style presentation that frames foreign-language education grants as a national security and foreign influence threat.
但市长贾斯汀·埃利克和学监马德琳·内格龙对这些指控进行了调查。埃利克公开表示，他已对该项目进行了广泛审查，发现该项目“纯粹是教学生阿拉伯语”。6月，卡塔尔基金会国际部宣布，在支持阿拉伯语教育17年后，将结束其在美国的运营。依赖其拨款的学校和教师将不得不另寻资金来源以维持这些项目。一些批评者，包括全球反犹太主义与政策研究所的一位官员，对这一消息表示欢呼。
But Mayor Justin Elicker and Superintendent Madeline Negrón looked into the claims. Elicker said publicly that he had examined the program extensively and found that it was “purely teaching students Arabic.”In June, Qatar Foundation International announced that it was ending operations in the U.S. after 17 years of supporting Arabic language education. Schools and teachers that relied on its grants will have to look elsewhere to sustain those programs. Some critics, including an official from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, celebrated the news.
这种反应严重误入歧途。美国学生需要更多机会学习战略重要语言。阿拉伯语教学资金的消失绝非值得庆祝之事。
That reaction is deeply misguided. American students need more opportunities to study strategically important languages. The disappearance of funding for Arabic instruction is nothing to celebrate.
美国文理科学院的两党语言学习委员会得出结论，语言技能关乎美国的经济竞争力、国家安全以及与世界接触的能力。该委员会建议每个孩子都应有机会学习一门除英语以外的语言。它还建议，通过学校、政府、慈善机构、企业和社区的合作伙伴关系来实现这一目标。
The bipartisan Commission on Language Learning of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences concluded that language skills matter to America’s economic competitiveness, national security and ability to engage with the world. It recommended that every child should have the opportunity to learn a language other than English. It also suggested that partnerships involving schools, governments, philanthropies, businesses and communities make that possible.
阿拉伯语是世界上使用最广泛的语言之一，对美国的外交、国家安全和商业至关重要。
Arabic is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages and is important to U.S. diplomacy, national security and business.
德国政府资助美国数百所学校的德语教学项目。西班牙教育部向全美各地学校派遣西班牙语助教。意大利提供拨款，帮助支付意大利语教师的薪资。日本支持日语教学，并向美国学校派遣助教。
Germany’s government supports German language programs in hundreds of American schools. Spain’s Ministry of Education places Spanish language assistants in schools across the U.S. Italy offers grants that help cover the salaries of Italian language teachers. Japan supports Japanese language instruction and sends teaching assistants to American schools.
我们不把这些项目描述为渗透美国课堂的企图。我们认清它们的本质：各国推广本国语言，学校利用这些资源为学生拓展机会。
We do not describe these programs as attempts to infiltrate American classrooms. We recognize them for what they are: countries promoting their languages and schools taking advantage of resources that expand opportunities for students.
阿拉伯语理应受到同等对待。事实上，卡塔尔基金会国际部的拨款确实没有任何不同。它们为向美国学生教授一门重要语言提供了资源。仅此而已。
Arabic should be treated no differently. In fact, Qatar Foundation International’s grants were indeed no different. They provided resources to teach an important language to American students. And that’s all.
当然，阿拉伯语学习的外部资助应当透明。学区应当掌握课程控制权。家长应当知晓教学内容。政治或宗教灌输不应出现在公立学校的语言课堂中。我参与这场辩论，有一些个人经历。
Outside funding of Arabic language studies should be transparent, of course. School districts should control the curriculum. Parents should know what is being taught. Political or religious indoctrination has no place in a public-school language class. I come to this debate with some personal experience.
我最近从中东媒体研究所辞职。我曾坚定支持其使命——通过翻译和发布第一手资料，让中东话语更加透明。但在我看来，该组织已偏离这一使命太远，转向意识形态宣传，包括其对待卡塔尔的方式，以及推广关于该国的阴谋论式报告。
I recently resigned from the Middle East Media Research Institute. I once strongly supported its mission of bringing greater transparency to Middle Eastern discourse by translating and publishing primary-source material. But in my view, the organization has moved too far from that mission and toward ideological advocacy, including in its treatment of Qatar and the promotion of conspiratorial reports about the nation.
阿拉伯语不应因当下的政治而区别于德语、西班牙语、意大利语或日语。让孩子们拥有更少了解世界的机会，不会让美国变得更强大。我们需要透明度，当然也需要地方控制权。但最重要的是，我们需要更多的语言教育，而不是更少。威廉·J·贝内特曾任教育部长。
Arabic should not be treated differently from German, Spanish, Italian or Japanese because of contemporary politics. America will not become stronger by giving its children fewer opportunities to understand the world. We need transparency and, of course, we need local control. But most importantly, we need more language education, not less. William J. Bennett is a former secretary of Education.