BBC accused of using mistranslation to cover up Palestinian anti-Semitism
Documentary film ‘One Day in Gaza’ draws rebukes for repeatedly translating Arabic word for ‘Jew’ as ‘Israeli’
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JTA — The BBC is being accused of covering up Palestinian anti-Semitism after it mistranslated several times in one documentary the word for “Jew” to “Israeli.”
The film “One Day in Gaza,” about last year’s Gaza border protests against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, aired Monday night on the BBC Two channel.
Among the quotes that were mistranslated was one in an interview with Bader Saleh, 24, who said that during the protests, “The revolutionary songs, they excite you, they encourage you to rip a Jew’s head off.”
The BBC translated his word, “Yahud,” as “Israeli.” It was one of at least five times that the word was mistranslated as Israeli, critics charge, the UK Jewish News reported.
The BBC engages in antisemitism denial. Yet another blatant example of the failure to take the scourge of antisemitism seriously BBC condemned for mistranslating Arabic word for ‘Jew’ to ‘Israeli’ in Gaza film https://t.co/WZQEKKkGim via @timesofisrael
— Deborah E. Lipstadt (@deborahlipstadt) May 14, 2019
Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt criticized the translation.
“Yet another blatant example of the failure to take the scourge of antisemitism seriously,” she tweeted.
The North West Friends of Israel in the UK also tweeted its criticism.
“When Palestinians use the word ‘Yahud’ they mean ‘Jew.’ It does NOT mean ‘Israeli,’” the group. “Why do you mistranslate ‘Yahud’? Are you scared of showing that Palestinians want to kill JEWS?!”
The Times of Israel Community.