To answer your second question about the expression 'arouse sympathy' : yes, this phrase does exist. 'Arouse' and 'sympathy' collocate well. But whether or not this is the best expression to use as a translation here would depend on the context. 'Sympathy' has a more restricted meaning in English compared with the equivalent words in other European languages. If you arouse sympathy it means people feel sorry for you in some way.