IDF makes ‘ass’ out of Home Front Command

The IDF found itself in an awkward position when Arabic speakers noticed it distributed gas masks which instructed Arabic speakers that they should only open when instructed to do so by the “Rear End Command” instead of the Home Front Command.

The chemical and biological protective gear comes in a cardboard box with instructions in Hebrew, English and Arabic. It instructs citizens only to open the gas mask kit “under clear instructions from the Rear Command” — better known in English as the IDF’s Home Front Command, the branch of the military tasked with protecting Israel’s population from attacks and natural disasters.

In Arabic, however, a mistranslation informs citizens only to open the mask “on specific instruction of the Rear End Command,” using the word for backside, according to a Channel 2 report published Friday.

Joint (Arab) List MK Ahmad Tibi shared a photo of one of the kits on Twitter and said the mistake was bound to happen because Israeli Jews don’t learn Arabic like Arab Israelis learn Hebrew. “Ninety percent of Arabs [in Israel] speak Hebrew, on the other hand 90% of Jews don’t want to speak or learn Arabic,” the Arab MK said.

Roughly 20 percent of Israel’s 8.5 million residents are Arabs and the Arabic language is recognized as an official state language along with Hebrew.

לא התערבנו:
תרגום קלוקל לערבית של ״פיקוד העורף״! ומה היה התרגום בערבית?..״פיקוד התחת״.
תתחילו ללמוד ערבית! pic.twitter.com/HwDqp6wyIk

— Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) January 22, 2016

“This grotesque error proves that unfamiliarity with the other or their language can lead into unpleasant realms,” Tibi said. “Arabic doesn’t just need to be learned in the IDF Intelligence Corps, but also in day-to-day life. I read Hebrew and speak Hebrew because it’s important, because we live in a binational and bilingual reality. Otherwise your ‘rear’ will turn into ‘butt,’ and then there’s no cover that will help.”

He urged Twitter followers (in Hebrew) to learn Arabic.