Farfour / Mickey's Jihad – Hoax of dreiging en de rol van de Nederlandse bloggers en pers

 

Mickey op Jihad, een bericht dat inmiddels in diverse kranten is verschenen de Volkskrant, De Telegraaf en ook weblogs zoals Geenstijl.nl, Hoeiboei, Shadned en Nederkrant.

Waarschijnlijk mede zo populair omdat het filmpje nu ook overal op internet te zien is. De bron van dit alles is het Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Nu heb ik hier al eerder vraagtekens gezet bij de betrouwbaarheid van MEMRI en ook op andere plaatsen is dit al gebeurd: Juan Cole, Norman Finkelstein en Marc Lynch. De kritiek richt zich meestal niet zozeer op de vertalingen aangezien daar altijd wel enige ruimte is voor verschil van inzicht, maar vooral op de eenzijdige keuze van de fragmenten en het zeer selectieve knip- en plakwerk binnen bepaalde fragmenten. Een punt van kritiek dat over het algemeen bevestigd wordt door studenten die voor mij wel eens een onderzoekje doen naar MEMRI. De fragmenten die gewoonlijk gekozen worden zijn óf die van de extremisten of van de liberalen; de mainstream discussies en (met name de liberale) figuren die er in de mainstream discussies toe doen, worden nauwelijks aan bod gelaten.

In het geval van Mickey’s Jihad zijn er echter wel grote vraagtekens inmiddels bij de vertaling.

Brian Whitaker van the Guardian’s Comment is free heeft als één van de eersten dit aan de kaak gesteld:

In the Hamas video clip issued by Memri, a Mickey Mouse lookalike asks a young girl what she will do “for the sake of al-Aqsa”. Apparently trying to prompt an answer, the mouse makes a rifle-firing gesture and says “I’ll shoot”.

The child says: “I’m going to draw a picture.”

Memri’s translation ignores this remark and instead quotes the child (wrongly) as saying: “I’ll shoot.”

Pressed further by the mouse – “What are we going to do?” – the girl replies in Arabic: “Bidna nqawim.” The normal translation of this would be “We’re going to [or want to] resist” but Memri’s translation puts a more aggressive spin on it: “We want to fight.”

The mouse continues: “What then?”

According to Memri, the child replies: “We will annihilate the Jews.”

The sound quality on the clip is not very good, but I have listened to it several times (as have a number of native Arabic speakers) and we can hear no word that might correspond to “annihilate”.

What the girl seems to say is: “Bitokhoona al-yahood” – “The Jews will shoot us” or “The Jews are shooting us.”

This is followed by further prompting – “We are going to defend al-Aqsa with our souls and blood, or are we not?”

Again, the girl’s reply is not very clear, but it’s either: “I’ll become a martyr” or “We’ll become martyrs.”

In the context of the conversation, and in line with normal Arab-Islamic usage, martyrdom could simply mean being killed by the Israelis’ shooting. However, Memri’s translation of the sentence – “I will commit martyrdom” turns it into a deliberate act on the girl’s part, and Colonel Carmon has since claimed that it refers to suicide bombers.

The overall effect of this is to change a conversation about resistance and sacrifice into a picture of unprovoked and seemingly motiveless aggression on the part of the Palestinians. But why hype the content in this way? Hamas’s use of children’s TV for propaganda purposes is clearly despicable, as the BBC, the Guardian and others have noted, without any need to exaggerate its content.

Among those misled by Memri’s “translation” was Glenn Beck of CNN, who had planned to run it on his radio programme, until his producer told him to stop. Beck informed listeners this was because CNN’s Arabic department had found “massive problems” with it.

Instead of broadcasting the tape, Beck then invited Carmon on to the programme and gave him a platform to denounce CNN’s Arabic department, and in particular to accuse one of its staff, Octavia Nasr, of being ignorant about the language.

Carmon related a phone conversation he had had with Ms Nasr:

She said the sentence where it says [in Memri’s translation] “We are going to … we will annihilate the Jews”, she said: “Well, our translators hear something else. They hear ‘The Jews are shooting at us’.”

I said to her: “You know, Octavia, the order of the words as you put it is upside down. You can’t even get the order of the words right. Even someone who doesn’t know Arabic would listen to the tape and would hear the word ‘Jews’ is at the end, and also it means it is something to be done to the Jews, not by the Jews.”

And she insisted, no the word is in the beginning. I said: “Octavia, you just don’t get it. It is at the end” … She didn’t know one from two, I mean.

Carmon’s words succeeded in bamboozling Glenn “Israel shares my values” Beck, who told him: “This is amazing to me … I appreciate all of your efforts. I appreciate what you do at Memri, it is important work.”

It was indeed amazing, because in defending Memri’s translation, Carmon took issue not only with CNN’s Arabic department but also with all the Arabic grammar books. The word order in a typical Arabic sentence is not the same as in English: the verb comes first and so a sentence in Arabic which literally says “Are shooting at us the Jews” means “The Jews are shooting at us”.

Whitaker verwijst in zijn stuk naar twijfels die ook de Afdeling Arabisch van CNN had. Meer daarover kunnen we ook vinden bij Facts on the Ground waarin onder meer aandacht wordt besteed aan de kritiek van Ali Alarabi, die deel uitmaakt van de CNN afdeling Arabisch:

The issue here is not simply some error in the translation of this word or that, but actually making new words up and putting them in the mouth of that child to show defamatory evidence against the Palestinians.

Zowel Ali Alarabi als the Angry Arab komen met eigen vertalingen en correcties op MEMRI:

سراء: سنابل، إنتي شو حتعملي .. يعني .. من أجل الأقصى؟ شو حتفدي .. يعني روحك من أجل الأقصى؟ شو حتعملي؟

Sarraa’: Sanabel, enti shoo hate’mali … ya’ni … min ajl el-Aqsa? Shoo hatefdi … ya’ni roohek min ajl el-Aqsa? Shoo hate’mali?

Sarraa’: Sanabel, what are you going to do … like … for the sake of Al Aqsa? What are you going to sacrifice … like your soul for the sake of Al-Aqsa? What are you going to do?

MEMRI: Sanabel, what will you do for the sake of the Al-Aqsa Mosque? How will you sacrifice your soul for the sake of Al-Aqsa? What will you do?

فرفور: حطـُـخ.

Farfour: Hatokh.

Farfour: I will shoot.

MEMRI: …

سنابل: بدي أرسم صورة.

Sanabel: B’di arsem soora.

Sanabel: I’m going to draw a picture.

MEMRI: I will shoot

فرفور: إيش حنعمل يعني كيف إحنا بدنا يا سنابل إنحرر ..

Farfour: Aish hane’mal ya’ni kaif ehna bedna ya sanabel enharrer …

Farfour: What are we going to do … Sanabel, like how are we going to liberate …

MEMRI: Sanabel, what should we do if we want to liberate…

سنابل: بدنا انقاوم.

Sanabel: Bedna enqawem.

Sanabel: We are going to resist.

MEMRI: We want to fight.

فرفور: و بعدين؟ هادي حفظناها و بعدين؟

Farfour: Wo ba’dain? Hadi hfeznaha, wo ba’dain?

Farfour: Then what? We already know this one, then what?

MEMRI: We got that. What else?

سراء: إحنا بدنا..

Sarraa’: Ehna bedna …

Sarraa’: We are going to …

MEMRI: We want to…

سنابل: بطخّونا اليهود.

Sanabel: Betokhoona el yahood.

Sanabel: The Jews will shoot us.

MEMRI: We will annihilate the Jews.

سراء: إحنا بدنا اندافع عن الأقصى بأرواحنا و بدمائنا، ولاّ لأ يا سنابل؟

Sarraa’: Ehna bedna endafe’ an el-Aqsa b arwa7na wo b dema2na, wella la’ ya Sanabel?

Sarraa’: We are going to defend Al-Aqsa with our souls and blood, or are we not Sanabel?

MEMRI: We are defending Al-Aqsa with our souls and our blood, aren’t we, Sanabel?

سنابل (صوت غير واضح): بدي استشهد

( أو – سنابل: باستشهد )

( أو – سنابل: بنستشهد )

Sanabel (audio not clear): Bdi astash-hed.

( Or – Sanabel: Bastash-hed )

( Or – Sanabel: Bnastash-hed )

Sanabel (audio not clear): I’m going to become a martyr. [Literally: I want to become a martyr]

( Or – Sanabel: I’ll become a martyr )

( Or – Sanabel: We’ll become martyrs )

MEMRI: I will commit martyrdom.

(bovenstaande is van the angry arab, onderstaande is van Ali Alarabi, met aanvullingen van een latere entry van hem)

Here is MEMRI’s transcripts and my corrections are in black letters.

Host Saraa, a young girl: Sanabel, what will you do for the sake of the Al-Aqsa Mosque? How will you sacrifice your soul for the sake of Al-Aqsa? What will you do?

Sanabel, young girl on phone: I will shoot.

( It is rather Mickey’s character speaking the words and hand gestures “ I will shoot” Not Sanable the young girl on the phone)

Farfour, a Mickey Mouse character in a tuxedo: Sanabel, what should we do if we want to liberate…

Sanable: We want to fight. (The word used was we want to resist, not to fight the reference here is to resist the Israeli occupation.

Farfour: We got that. What else?

Saraa: We want to…

Sanabel: We will annihilate the Jews. Actually she is saying: (the Jews are shooting us)

Saraa:We are defending Al-Aqsa with our souls and our blood, aren’t we, Sanabel?

Sanabel: I will commit martyrdom.

Sanabel actually said “ I’ll be a martyr” ( as in to die for my country, and the reason for that because from a cultural and Islamic religious point of view and law, to be a martyr, one has to have died defending his family, property, religion and country,although the child does not all of this, however the usage of the Arabic version of the word Martyr, carries in it those references. and not to “ commit” the word used in MEMRI translation to indicate action and/or planning. This point was elaborated further by YegaL head of MEMRI on Beck’s show by saying that the child meant “ committing suicide bombing”

Farfour: We’ve said more than once that becoming masters of the world requires the following: First, to be happy with our Arabic language, which once upon a time ruled this world. (Excellency in the world, not Mastery of the world two totally different meanings)

Saraa: Of course.

Farfour: Second… or maybe that’s it?

Adult host: Farfour, I heard you talking in English.

Farfour: Yes. How are you, Saraa? I hope to be good time.

Saraa: What’s with you, Farfour? Why are talking this way? Didn’t we agree to talk in literary Arabic? (Standard Arabic not literary Arabic)

Farfour: But Saraa, this is the language of the advanced world, the language of the world that understands and invents things, isn’t it?

Saraa: No, Farfour, you are wrong, because you don’t know that the Muslims are the basis of civilization. If not for the Muslims, the world wouldn’t have got to where it is today.
[…]

Farfour: My dear youngsters, we’re back. We always miss seeing you on your weekly program “The Pioneers of Tomorrow,” in which we are placing together the cornerstone for the ruling of the world by an Islamic leadership.

In the distant past the Islamic empire was a world power so the allusion was to a world where Muslims were a powerful and advanced nation, hence the references to Arabic language, the advanced western world,excellency in standard Arabic language, Islamic civilization. So clearly the context here was more educational to the children to instill a sense of pride of one’s culture and glorious history. And despite references for “resisting” the occupation, and “ I’ll die for my country, which in my opinion do not find highly unusual for an occupied and traumatized society such as the Palestinian society.Although it sounds here that Farfour is vowing for Islamic leadership of the world, but he actually was referring to a glorious Islamic past when Arabic was a universal language of medicine,philosophy and sciences.
One cannot be objective and say that this show is a representative of the Palestinian society any more than any right wing televangelist American who calls for “dropping a nuclear bomb on the state department or calling for the assassination of a president of another country and say that such outrageous statements are representative of the American people or culture

For example Yegal Carmon head of MEMRI said on Glen Beck’s show when commenting on the young caller on the phone “Sanable” saying “I’ll be a myrtar” by saying that “we know that this means “suicide bombing” This of course couldn’t be further from the truth. And note (see my previous piece for the transcripts) how MEMERI injected the word “Commit” with the word “Martyrdom” as in drawing a psychological association with the phrase “Suicide bombing” where Hamas and other Islamists call it “Martyrdom operation”

In MEMRI’S interpretations and state of mind, any reference to ‘Martyrdom” is “committing suicide bombing” a deliberate ignorance or deliberate manipulation.

The fact is that when the young caller said “I’ll be a martyr” she is not saying “I am committing” but rather “I am defending” the key word here is here is “defense” and the reason for that is simple “I’ll be a martyr” as in to die for my country, because from a cultural and Islamic religious point of view and law, to be a martyr, one has to die in Defense of his family, property, religion and country. Adding or omitting the word “commit” would put the phrase in an entirely different light.

The work of the interpreter is to get as close and as accurate to the original word in its native utterance as meant by the speaker; not to spin it to suit the interpreter or translator motives.

Also the whole story revolved around a key phrase which was “ we want to annihilate. The Jews”

As I pointed out previously that such phrase was never uttered in the segment posted on MEMER’S website. But the words “annihilate the Jews” carries with them a huge psychological and horrific meaning especially in the western or European collective psyche for the horrors committed by the Nazis against the Jews and others in Europe.

In fact I have yet to hear any Arabic speaker say the Arabic sort-of equivalent of the word “Annihilate” because it is not part of the political discourse or even in the terrorist or extremist terminology. And after asking some Arab journalists colleagues with over 30 years of experience in the Arabic press, they too said that they never heard any speech or written statement that refers to “finish” of or “annihilate the Jews” Because it does not exist.The only Arabic word I can think of that is close to the word annihilate is ( Ibada) which is normally used with insects as in “ insecticide” ( Mubid Hashari)

Behalve de vraagtekens die dus gezet kunnen worden bij de vertalingen van MEMRI in dit geval, is ook de wijze waarop de pers alhier opereert discutabel. Zowel Facts on the Ground als Ali Alarabi wijzen hier ook op. Bloggers zijn geen journalisten en misschien kun je dus van die kant wat minder verwachten en blogs als Geenstijl staan nu eenmaal niet bekend om hun waarheidsgetrouwe berichten. Niettemin zijn er toch genoeg blogs die het wel oppikken. Van zogenaamde serieuze kranten zou je wat meer mogen verwachten lijkt me toch. In dit geval duidelijk niet. Men neemt berichtgeving klakkeloos over en besteed nergens aandacht aan mogelijke twijfels. Correcties op deze berichtgeving zijn er ook niet. Wat is dit voor journalistiek? Laksheid? Op zoek naar bevestiging van stereotype beelden? Geen eigen afdeling Arabisch die de teksten kan controleren? Behoefte aan snel, sensationeel nieuws? Op z’n minst had de Nederlandse media toch de twijfels bij de vertalingen en de al eerder genoemde kritiek (ook het punt over discussies over vertalingen) kunnen noemen en deze in een bredere discussie kunnen plaatsen bijvoorbeeld over propaganda en tegenpropaganda.