Rape Victim, Lost in Translation
Even rape victims aren’t safe from Ha’aretz‘s English translators. In the latest “Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation,” a June 6 print edition article about a judge who said “some girls enjoy rape” reported:
(The online article did not contain this wording.) Except the rape victim, a teenage girl, was not Palestinian. She was an Israeli Jew. The original Hebrew article did not make the false claim that the victim was Palestinian. The Hebrew states (CAMERA’s translation):
Yeshaya, a judge emeritus of a district court in Tel Aviv, said this week during a hearing that “some girls enjoy rape.” He was the head of an appeals committee on national security which was ruling on the appeal of a female youth, now 19, who was raped six years ago by four Palestinians near the Hizma checkpoint.
The victim’s identity has no bearing on the judge’s abhorrent statement. And this translation error is apparently not a false smear of Israel. Nevertheless, once again, Ha’aretz translators have illustrated their lack of professionalism, injecting completely false information disconnected both from reality as well as the original Hebrew article.
In a marketing letter sent to Ha’aretz readers last week, publisher Amos Schocken states:
We are committed to providing our readers in Israel and abroad with the most relevant and professional news, opinion and analyses. We have enlisted top-notch reporters, editors and writers, and have significantly expanded our unique, English-language coverage of the turbulent Middle East and the evolving Jewish Diaspora.
For good reason, Schocken does not even try to pretend that Ha’aretz translators are top notch. Time and again, Ha’aretz has been forced to correct the false English translations, which invariably whitewash Arab violence or other misdoings, or inject misinformation about Israel.
Stay tuned for an update about a correction.
For the Hebrew version of this post, please visit Presspectiva.
June 16 Update: Ha’aretz Corrects: Rape Victim was Israeli, Not Palestinian
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