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Respond Crisis Translation Profile picture
Respond Crisis Translation
@RespondCrisis
We mobilize around-the-clock to provide trauma-informed interpretation and translation support—and language rights advocacy. admin@respondcrisistranslation.org
Apr 19 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Do you know how Western powers weaponize language in war, conquest, and genocide? Image Image
Nov 26, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
A released Palestinian prisoner says in Arabic that Israel held them in the cold w/o electricity, "sprayed us w/ pepper spray" & "left us to die."

She never mentioned Hamas or a word like it. Yet @BBC translated to: "No one helped us. Only Hamas cared...We love them very much."


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Image This egregious mistranslation is not just a language error; it is a racist fabrication that fans the flames of the war.

The full video, including @BBC's erroneous English subtitles: bbc.com/news/live/worl…
Nov 2, 2023 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Arabic words like “shaheed,” “jihad,” and “intifada” are regularly mistranslated or misconstrued in English-language media to stereotype and demonize the movement for Palestinian liberation.

But what do they really mean?

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White text over black background: ​​"Mistranslating the movement Language is being weaponized to malign the Palestinian liberation movement and justify an ongoing genocide." Beneath the text are three examples of mistranslations of "Jihad" and "Shaheed" in recent media.
Black text over white background: Arabic words like “shaheed,” “jihad,” and “intifada” are regularly mistranslated or misconstrued in English-language media to stereotype and demonize Palestinians, painting them as terrorists and contributing to racist narratives that pro-Palestinian activism is inherently violent or antisemitic. This weaponization of language is a desperate tool to silence dissent in the U.S. and all across the west. But what do shaheed, jihad, and intifada really mean?” shaheed / شهيد
“witness” or “martyr”

Like the word “martyr,” which comes from the Greek “martur,” or “witness,” the root of “shaheed” derives from “witness" in Quranic Arabic.

Arabic speakers commonly call people who have died in wars, including civilians, martyrs.

🧵2/8 Black text over white background: “shaheed, شهيد. “witness” or “martyr”. Like the English-language word “martyr,” which comes from the Greek “martur,” or “witness,” the root of “shaheed” derives from “witness" in Quranic Arabic. It often refers to someone who has willingly sacrificed their life for their faith or principles. In Islam, the term is used to honor and respect those who have fallen while fighting for their beliefs and values. Arabic speakers commonly call people who have died in wars, including civilians, martyrs. In the Palestine context, “shaheed” regularly refers to a Pa...
Apr 26, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
1/BREAKING: We were featured in this @restofworld article about the grave dangers of AI machine translation. These tools are on the rise, increasingly used by for-profit government contractors and aid organizations that work with refugees & migrants. bit.ly/41Z9Sxu 🧵 Image from Rest of World ar... 2/”Uma Mirkhail got a firsthand demonstration of how damaging a bad translation can be.”
bit.ly/41Z9Sxu
Aug 17, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
💥URGENT-HELP NEEDED💥

Please read thread.🧵

1/This is a message from Leila, Respond’s Iranian Languages Lead:

I am reaching out with an urgent update from some of our Pashto and Dari translators based in Kabul and with ways we can support them in #Afghanistan 2/From our translators:
“I can't sleep well. We're running out of money & might be cashless & without food for days. I have a family of 15. We immediately need money to go through this hardship. I am still available for any translation projects as I have to feed my family.”