An interpreter’s error has raised hackles in the United Nations and throughout the Middle East.
The United Nations said Wednesday that an interpreter misquoted a Syrian diplomat as saying that Israel had bombed a nuclear facility in his country.
Reuters reported that according to the transcript of a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly’s Disarmament Committee, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari — speaking in Arabic with simultaneous English translation –said that Israel “violates the airspace of sovereign states and carries out military aggression against them, like what happened on the 6th of September 2007 against my country.”
The translator quoted the diplomat as saying that Israel had “taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria.”
The error made headlines throughout the Middle East.
As the Year Turns, Support the Journalism You Trust. JTA covers the stories shaping Jewish life around the world — with the depth this moment calls for. As you reflect on the year ahead, consider a gift that keeps independent Jewish journalism strong.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
