Metaglossia: The Translation World

Une seconde tentative est lancée pour supprimer du dictionnaire officiel de la langue espagnole le mot "Judiada", qui signifie littéralement "la communauté juive ".

Lors de sa visite très attendue en Iran - la première d'un président égyptien en plus de 30 ans - , Mohamed Morsi était sans doute loin d'imaginer que son discours subirait les coups de ciseaux…...

Bahrain wants Iran apology over speech translation

AFP
September 02, 2012

Pic: Reuters

Email the story Print the story
RSS feed

Bahrain: Bahrain has demanded an apology from Iran after an official interpreter reportedly replaced the word "Syria" with "Bahrain" in a speech by Egypt's president at the opening of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran.

The foreign ministry in Manama on Saturday filed an "official protest memorandum" with Tehran's charge d'affaires over the "misrepresentation made by Iranian State Television" during President Mohamed Morsi's speech on Thursday.

Bahrain "requested the Iranian government apologise for this act, and take the necessary action to correct the breach and ensure that actions like this one don't happen again," the ministry's demarche said, according to a statement.

Morsi, in the first visit to the Islamic republic by an Egyptian head of state since the 1979 Islamic revolution, in his speech criticised the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key regional ally of Tehran.

President Mohammed Morsy’s speech at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Tehran was mistranslated to sound less critical of Syria. Al Jazeera showed video of Morsy speaking and ran a translation of the Farsi audio that accompanied it. Morsy clearly stated that those who are struggling for freedom are the “Palestinians and Syrians.” However, the translation clearly said “Palestinians and Bahrainis.”

The tampered translations continue in a later part of Morsy’s speech when he said, “The Egyptian Revolution represents the cornerstone of the Arab Spring.” The Iranian translator replaces this with the words “Islamic Awakening,” a term that would bring Iran into the revolutionary fold and also add an exclusively religious label to a movement embraced by seculars and Islamists alike.

The switch from Syrians to Bahrainis is likely born out of Iran’s steadfast defense of the Bashar Al-Assad regime’s violent repression of the largely Sunni rebels, while Iran voices support for protestors in Bahrain who are largely Shi’a. Still, the willingness to tamper with Morsy’s words will not help the growing camaraderie between Egypt and Iran.

Lately, Iran has seemed almost desperate to ally with Egypt, with its foreign ministry giving a sycophantic interview to the Egyptian press. However, the translation debacle shows that Iran is having difficulty engaging honestly with their fellow Muslim power. It is reminiscent of a fake interview published by the Fars state news agency soon after Morsy’s election that claimed the newly elected leader was seeking closer ties with Iran and that he was interested in revising the Camp David accord. Not only did Morsy have to ensure the international community that the interview was false, but he had to deal with the backlash that was elicited entirely outside of his control.

DIPLOMATIE - Au sommet des non-alignés à Téhéran, les interprètes iraniens ont eu tôt fait d'évacuer les critiques du président égyptien Mohammed Morsi contre le régime de son homologue syrien Bachar Al-Assad en remplaçant la "Syrie" par le...

MANAMA, BAHRAIN — Bahrain says it has filed a formal protest with Iran over a broadcast translation that wrongly substituted Bahrain for Syria in a speech by Egypt's president.

A statement by Bahrain's government says Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi referred to the Syrian rebels fighting an "oppressive" regime during a speech at a Tehran conference Thursday.

Instead, Bahrain claims Iranian state TV replaced the word "Syria" with "Bahrain" in its Farsi translation.

Morsi's speech was an embarrassment for Iran, which is a close ally of the Syrian regime. But Shiite power Iran has frequently criticized Bahrain's authorities for crackdowns against mostly Shiite protesters seeking greater political rights.

Bahrain says the formal complaint was filed Saturday with an Iranian diplomat.

Charges Iranian media tampered with translation of Mursi speech to include its name
By Habib Toumi, Bureau ChiefPublished: 20:42 September 1, 2012
Share on gmailShare on tumblrShare on twitterShare on linkedinMore Sharing Services33
Manama: Bahrain on Saturday demanded an apology from Iran after it charged that the Iranian media tampered with the translation of the speech delivered by the Egyptian president in Tehran to include its name.
“Hamad Al Amer, the foreign affairs undersecretary for regional and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) affairs, has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires and handed him a formal protest note following the tampering by the Iranian media and replacing Syria with Bahrain in the speech delivered by president Mohammad Mursi at the opening of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Such an abuse and distortion of the facts is rejected and is regarded as interference in Bahrain’s domestic affairs and a violation of the norms.”
The foreign ministry demanded an apology from the Iranian government and the taking of the necessary measures to ensure that such negative attitudes harmed relations fraternal relations between Bahrain and Tehran, the foreign ministry said.
The interpreter replaced Syria with Bahrain when President Mursi talked about the so-called Arab Spring and enumerated the countries where people launched revolutions to change their regimes.

LONDON — Decades of campaigning by victims of thalidomide, a morning sickness drug, have taken a new turn, with the first apology in 50 years to the victims and their families by the drug’s German manufacturer — and an incensed rejection of the apology as too little and too late from many of those it was intended to placate.

Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
The apology was issued Friday by Harald Stock, chief executive of the Grünenthal Group, a family-owned pharmaceutical company that marketed the drug in the 1950s and early 1960s. It was withdrawn in 1961 after it was linked to birth defects, including shortened arms and legs, and in some cases no limbs at all, that campaigners say affected 10,000 babies around the world, mostly in Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan.

The apology came in a speech Mr. Stock delivered in the Rhineland town of Stolberg, the company’s base, at the unveiling of a thalidomide memorial, a bronze statue of a limbless child.

Addressing the victims and their families, he said the company wished to “apologize for the fact that we have not found the way to you from person to person for almost 50 years.

“Instead, we have been silent, and we are very sorry for that.”