Updated: Ha’aretz‘s Latest Lost in Translation

By Published On: February 27, 2013

Pal prisoner release shalit second stage.jpg
Palestinians in Ramallah await prisoners released Dec. 18, 2011 as part of the Shalit deal, which saw a total of 1,027 Palestinians go free (photo by Reuters)

“Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation” strikes again. For the benefit of less informed foreign readers, Ha’aretz’s English translators are once again injecting erroneous information that does not appear in the original Hebrew.

The English version of an Op-Ed by Zvi Bar’el, in both print and online today, errs:

[Shin Bet chief Yoram] Cohen is the man who decided whether to arrest Samer Issawi last August after he had been released in the deal in which abducted soldier Gilad Shalit was exchanged for 477 Palestinian prisoners. (Emphasis added.)

In fact, as this screen grab of a Dec. 18, 2011 Ha’aretz headline indicates, a total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released in the Gilad Shalit deal; 477 in the first stage on Oct. 18, 2011, and another 550 on Dec. 18, 2011.

Pal prisoners released shalit deal.jpg

The Dec. 18, 2011 DPA article in Ha’aretz correctly reported:

The second stage of an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap was completed Sunday, as Israel released 550 Palestinian prisoners into the Palestinian territories and Jordan. . . .

A spokesman for the Hamas armed wing told a news conference in Gaza City that Sunday’s release completed the prisoner exchange, whereby Israel freed a total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in return for a soldier held captive in Gaza for more than five years.

Unlike the English edition, the original Hebrew version of Zvi Bar’el’s Op-Ed today does not contain the egregious understatement of the number of prisoners that Israel released. Thus, today’s English error is another fine example of Ha’aretz‘s “tailor-made” content for English-language readers.

Update: 11:15 a.m. EST: CAMERA Prompts Ha’aretz Correction on Palestinian Prisoners

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