Tonight and tomorrow are Yom Kippur, traditionally a fast day in which Jews are immersed in spiritual retrospection about the ways in which we’ve let down our fellow humanity and the ways in which we propose to do better in the coming year. In that spirit, I’m displaying one of a series of political High Holiday cartoons by the inimitable, Mysh. This one features Interior Minister Eli Yishai (with fingers crossed, natch) saying to a group of African refugees in an internment camp:
“I’ve turned racism into a supreme value of Zionism and Judaism.
–Truly sorry”
Food for thought on this holy day.
Wrong translation: ““We’ve transformed racism into the highest value of Zionism and Judaism.”
Correct translation: “I’ve made racism a high value of Judaism and Zionism”
But you got the gist of it.
Even better:
“I’ve made racism a high value of Judaism and Zionism?
– Sorry, truly!”
You missed his crossed fingers. Please stop trying to read statements in ways that pervert their meaning & miss the obvious irony & satire intended. If you want to be dense don’t do it on our time.
How is providing an accurate, literal translation tantamount to being “dense”?
Your “accurate, literal” translation omitted the fact that Yishai had his fingers crossed, a visual feature of the cartoon which conveys its meaning. If you have further problems with the density of your claim please contact the cartoonist and ask him whether your interpretation is dense or not. Enough on this.
“Your “accurate, literal” translation omitted the fact that Yishai had his fingers crossed, a visual feature of the cartoon which conveys its meaning.”
Huh? The crossing of the fingers is there for everyone to see, I didn’t omit anything. It’s a translation. No need to get all super aggressive for nothing.
The only thing wrong with my translation was the use of the word “we.” It should’ve been “I.” “Transformed” is an absolutely correct translation.
Here’s a link to Mysh’s Facebook page where he uses this English translation for his cartoon:
The Minister of Interior Ishay:
“I’ve put Racism on top of Jewish and Zionist values? My SINCERE apologies”
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=526303980716864&set=pb.384230151590915.-2207520000.1348698649&type=1&theater
I noted his translation in another comment but wanted to make sure to provide a link to Mysh’s page for reference.
You’ve completely misconstrued the cartoon. As I wrote to fellow nudnik Jay Green, contact Mysh & confirm your misconception of the cartoon. And stop wasting our time here.
Don’t you understand the meaning of irony? If you were in an English Lit crit course I’d give you a D (for dense).
You wrote that the English was: “We’ve transformed racism into the highest value of Zionism and Judaism. –Truly sorry””
But in actuality, it’s: “I’ve put Racism on top of Jewish and Zionist values? My SINCERE apologies” (at least according to Mysh himself)
Very different sentiment.
Almost opposite to yours, in fact, with all due respect.
You’re dense. Don’t take a job as a professional translator. Clearly the cartoon satirizes the racism inherent in Yishai’s actions & policies as interior minister. Did you not notice that Yishai’s fingers are crossed & that this overturns the purported sincerity of Yishai’s “truly sorry?”
Actually, if you re-do it, it says, “Iran will be turned into glass” and the settler is crossing his fingers hoping Iranian babies will melt under the scorch of it all. I’m using the same translator that’s been putting words in the mouths of Iranians officials in Western media all of these decades.
Huh? I didn’t do any translating. I just provided the English version that Mysh himself included with the cartoon. It wasn’t the same as yours so I thought it was important to share how the cartoonist translated his own cartoon.
It definitely satirizes Yishai’s racism – but it doesn’t have him asserting that racism has been transformed into the highest value of Zionism and Judaism (as in the translation you included) but rather that Yishai is putting his racism on top of Zionist and Jewish values. Clearly, his “apology” for doing so is fake – hence the crossed fingers.
I don’t appreciate being called “dense” for posting the translation Mysh provided for his own cartoon. One would think his word on the subject ought to carry the day here as he himself created the original piece in Hebrew.
Come on Guys, this petty bickering over minutia is dumb.(not to mention; dense)
You should have closed the comments for this illustrative blog entry. Like President Obama, it’s time to “filter” out the noise (instead of the truth).