Ha’aretz Translators Can’t Tell Jewish Agency from WZO
Ha’aretz‘s notorious English translators have blown it once again. Editors were compelled to print a correction today regarding a page-one headline and article, the latest instance of “Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation.” The page-two correction reads:
There was a translation error on yesterday’s front page: in the article, “The Jewish Agency Settlement Department’s bloated budget,” the department referred to belongs to the World Zionist Organization and not the Jewish Agency. We apologize for the mistake.
Here is yesterday’s front-page with the erroneous headline and article:
The erroneous reference to the Jewish Agency, as opposed to the World Zionist Organization, also appeared on Ha’aretz‘s Facebook page and Twitter feed:
The text of the print edition article also erred, confusing the Jewish Agency for the World Zionist Organization:
The Jewish Agency Settlement Department’s annual spending is several times higher than its original budget, Haaretz has learned. In recent years the government has transferred additional funds to the Settlement Department ranging from several dozen million shekels to hundreds of millions.
The department is funded and directed by the government, despite being formally part of the Jewish Agency. . . .
When Ha’aretz launched its new digital platforms last year, publisher Amos Schocken promised readers “accurate and comprehensive news coverage, analyses and commentary on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.”
Ha’aretz translators, who can’t tell the Jewish Agency from the World Zionist Organization, do not deliver accurate coverage of the Jewish world, Israel or the Middle East. Rather than once again treating the symptom with a correction, isn’t it high time that Ha’aretz get to the root of the problem by holding its translators accountable? If reporters are named (and shamed) in corrections when they err, why aren’t translators?
More from SNAPSHOTS
Mahmoud Abbas’ Diatribe Threatening Israel Included Bogus Canaanite Claim
September 10, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent anti-Israel diatribe that aired on PA TV was monitored and translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Excerpt: "I say to [Israel]: Every stone you have built on our land [...]
CNN Calls House’s Unifying Anti-BDS Vote ‘Divisive’
July 24, 2019
Yesterday, in an overwhelming vote of bipartisan support, the House of Representatives voted 398 to 17 to adopt a resolution opposing the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) campaign. Yet, CNN's headline casts the unifying vote [...]
NY Times Cites Poll, Hides Palestinian Support for Violence
July 9, 2019
The New York Times has struggled to accurately describe polls this year. In January, editor Jonathan Weisman misrepresented Pew polling data to describe a nonexistent surge in Israeli support for the United States under President [...]
CNN’s Zakaria Indulges Palestinian Propagandist Hanan Ashrawi
June 9, 2019
Fareed Zakaria’s weekly Cable News Network (CNN) program (grandiosely named “Global Public Square”) June 9 broadcast included a discussion of the current U.S. Middle East peace plan with guests Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian Authority official) and [...]
In Robert Bernstein Obit, AFP Inappropriately References His Judaism
May 29, 2019
Robert Bernstein (Courtesy the New Press) In its obituary yesterday for American publisher Robert Bernstein, Agence France Presse inserted an inappropriate reference to the Human Rights Watch founder who later turned on the organization due [...]