Ha’aretz Lost in Translation, VIII
Funeral of Hamas member Ibrahim Sarhan
In this month’s installment of the Ha’aretz Lost in Translation Series, Ha’aretz‘s English translators transform Ibrahim Sarhan, a Hamas member killed yesterday by Israeli troops into “a Palestinian civilian.” The English news brief, by Anshel Pfeffer, reads:
Military police are launching an investigation into the killing of a Palestinian civilian by an IDF force yesterday in a Jordan Valley refugee camp. During a search for an Islamic Jihad activist in the Al-Fari’a refugee camp northeast of Nablus, an explosive device was thrown at the Duvdevan unit, according to the IDF. There were no injuries, but the soldiers noticed two Palestinians escaping the scene. The soldiers reportedly called to the two to stop. One of the youths continued running, and the soldiers shot him in the legs. Army sources said a military medic treated the man, 22-year-old Ibrahim Sarhan, placed a tourniquet on his leg and transferred him to the care of a Red Crescent team. Sarhan died soon afterward. A military source told Haaretz that Sarhan’s condition was stable when he was handed over to the Red Crescent. The source speculated that Sarhan died following some accident during the medical treatment or a complication not immediately obvious to the paramedics. . .
Nowhere does the English edition mention that Sarhan was a Hamas member, despite the fact that the Hebrew version states:
ב?ירוע ?חר נהרג ?תמול פלסטיני מירי צה”ל במחנה הפליטי? ?ל-פרעה שמצפון לשכ?. החמ?ס הודיע כי מדובר ב?חד מ?נשיו.
Meaning,
In another incident, a Palestinian was killed yesterday by Israeli fire in the Al-Far’ia refugee camp north of Nablus. Hamas announced that he was a member of the organization.
On the other hand, the English edition notes the Israeli source’s claim that Sirhan died following a problem in his medical treatment, while the Hebrew doesn’t.
Meanwhile, Elder of Ziyon blogs that Maan Palestinian News Agency was also hit by a similar bout of Lost in Translation.
July 17 Update: Ha’aretz corrects online, but not in print
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