Toronto Star explains he didn’t really mean what he meant and we are horrible for noticing he said it

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UPDATE: Gates of Vienna analysis of this issue.

UPDATE 2: An excellent article by Honest Reporting Canada. Worth the read. And they are investigating the “experts”.

 

  • Were these individuals paid by the Star?

  • With respect to Mohammed Aboghodda of the Understanding Islam Academy, the Star describes him as an “expert” – please explain on what grounds he can be described as an “expert” in Arabic and a trusted source when it comes to translation work?

  • Is the Star aware that one of its “experts”, Nazir Harb Michel of Georgetown University, was previously accused of providing “whitewashed translations” of an Islamic hate preacher’s sermon in America? In fact, he’s an ardent anti-Israel detractor (see here and here). Shouldn’t this be disclosed?

  • Is the Star aware that one of its “experts”, according to the ADL, Kristin Brustad of the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2001 where Brustad claimed that Israel had violated international law with its “brutal, dehumanizing military occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land, home demolition and agricultural stranglehold.” Shouldn’t this be disclosed?

  • Is the Star aware that Atiqa Hachimi of the University of Toronto is a signatory to several anti-Israel campaigns? Shouldn’t this be disclosed? Hachimi claimed in a video news report that the Star produced (see immediately below) that the alleged video recording of the Imam’s sermon is “dangerously lacking context,” was “doctored” and that it “promotes a gross misunderstanding” with a wrong translation.

 

Some of you may remember this video of an Imam at the Toronto Masjid (Mosque) preaching death to everyone and demanding that the Jerusalem Mosque be “cleansed of the filth of the Jews”.

Well, after several months, the Toronto Star published a rather lengthy attempt to spin this sermon and make everyone else look like the bad guy while this imam is just a poor misunderstood messenger of allah.

Here is a small excerpt:

It is about an imam who made hurtful mistakes that he could not adequately explain. But it is also about the slipperiness of language — especially in a climate of viral misinformation, polarized debate and geopolitical conflicts that have found fresh battlegrounds in Canada.

Elkasrawy’s prayers were undeniably problematic, but they were also distorted to fit a certain narrative that gave his words added potency amid rising anti-Islamic sentiment.

In a controversy that hinges on his words, a central question was never fully investigated: Did Elkasrawy really say Jews were filth? Did he really call for them to be killed?

According to several Arabic experts contacted by the Star, the answer is no.

“I’ve learned a personal lesson throughout this entire process,” Farber says. “Do not take anything for granted. Not even words.”

It goes on for pages and pages of insubstantial apologia, raising the name of Bernie Farber several times, a far far left wing Jewish fellow who speaks at lots of events where the multicultural narrative has to be pushed on Canadians, recently appearing with a panel of leftist and Islamic speakers including NCCM, (the new name for CAIR-Canada), at City Hall in Ottawa.

and then we get to this:

Translation is not an exact science. Words are like prisms, refracting different shades of meaning. A good translation is one that captures the right hue.

More vilification of everyone connected to the translation and then:

But such stories contained a glaring oversight: this was not at all what Elkasrawy said.

 

This is the consensus that emerged from five Arabic experts who independently analyzed Elkasrawy’s prayers at the Star’s request. The experts — from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom — are Arabic translators, linguists and university professors with published book chapters, academic papers and textbooks. None of them knows Elkasrawy.

 

The experts found that the imam’s prayers were not without fault, and many clarified that they do not condone or excuse some of the language he used.

But they also described the initial, widely circulated translation as “mistranslated,” “decontextualized” and “disingenuous.” One said it had the hallmarks of a “propaganda translation.”

Lets see if it is a mistranslation or not.

Lets start with Hizb-utTahrir:

[…]

Al-Aqsa is calling out to you, where is Al-Farouq Omar, where is Salahuddin… Where is the Khilafah of the Muslims, do you trivialize that the station of Israa’ of RasulAllah (saw) is desecrated by the Jews and their filth?

[…]

The Jews storm into Al-Aqsa to perform their rituals… to desecrate the land with their filth. Can Al-Aqsa be desecrated and to have other than Allah honored in it while you watch!! Where are you, O the best of the believers??

[…]

O officers and commanders renew the memory of Salahuddin and gather the two extensions of Al-Okab; Egypt and Ash-Sham, to soar with the Muslim Ummah and crush the Jewish entity and purify the holy land of their filth.

This is a pretty solidly Islamic organization. And they appear to be quite clear on the use of the word, “filth” with respect (after a fashion) to Jewish people. Perhaps, as Robert Spencer suggests, the Toronto Star should send their people down to the office of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and teach them proper Arabic.

Please note that the official page of this group linked above and quoted here, is IN ENGLISH. No question of translation issues. It is their translation. Not ours. But does show what conventional and orthodox Islamic teaching is. I mean for those who can’t be bothered to read a koran.

Now lets see what other imams are saying:

California Friday Sermon: Imam Ammar Shahin Cites Hadith, Prays for Annihilation of Jews

Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: Preacher Ali Abu Ahmad Prays for Annihilation of the Jews

Friday Sermon in Gaza: Muslims Should Wage Jihad to Liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Filth of the Jews, the Brothers of Apes and Pigs

Hizb Al-Tahrir Rally at Al-Aqsa Mosque Calls on Pakistan Army to Liberate Jerusalem from Jews’ Filth

Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Abu Sara to the Jews: “We Shall Slaughter You Without Mercy”

Copenhagen Friday Sermon: Imam Cites Antisemitic Hadith, Says: Soon Caliphate Will Uproot Colonialist, Crusader Jewish Entity

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “crush the Jewish entity and purify the holy land of their filth”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/2421/

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “Don’t you yearn for the liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews?”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/2463/

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “preserving the holy sites, and liberating Al-Aqsa Mosque and ridding it from the filth of the Jews”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/2751/

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “… has it been purified by our armies from the filth of the usurping Jews?”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/PDF/EN/en_lflts_pdf/2016_10_15_Tunisia_EN.pdf

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “…purifying for them the Earth from the filth of the oppressing Jews”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/1227/

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “We tell them, that the liberation of the blessed land from the filth of Jews is in your capacity”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/2237/

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “Is it not time for your large army chanting the Takbeer to liberate Al-Aqsa from the filth of the Jews”

http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/index.php/EN/nshow/2606/

Robert Spencer did an article today on Jihad Watch on this subject here:

This is laying it on really thick. He is just a wide-eyed kid from Cairo at heart, you see, hesitant to speak because he makes mistakes. How can you greasy Islamophobes get mad at this poor lovable guy?

Please click over and read the whole article at JW.

And lastly, an interview I did with Robert Spencer just this evening:

Comment under the Robert Spencer interview at Youtube:

rigansmontes 3 minutes ago
The Toronto Star’s “Arabic sociolinguist and dialectologist” Atiqa Hachimi says that ??? (danas) is “widely understood as desecration when used in reference to holy things and places.” This is absolute rubbish. The root of this word means “to be soiled, sullied, defiled, polluted.” Only in the second, causative form (called ??????? in Arabic) does this root mean “to desecrate.” In this form, the word would be ????? (tadn?s), not ??? (danas). These are completely different words. The imam is clearly saying “Purify Al-Aqsa mosque from the danas,” not the “tadn?s” of the Jews. Muslims will do anything to defend their religion and their so-called Prophet. This includes lying and killing.

But in a way I have to admire the Toronto Star.

It reminds me of that old joke. The one that was worn out and is new again.

“Who ya gonna believe? Me? Or your lying eyes?

 

 

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

22 Replies to “Toronto Star explains he didn’t really mean what he meant and we are horrible for noticing he said it”

  1. “Robert Spencer did an article today on Jihad Watch…”

    “Banking on the ignorance of their readers…”

    Anyone who plays chess quickly learns (or doesn’t) that you NEVER rely upon your opponent to make anything less than the very best move.

    With its “Lone Wolf” rubbish and “Mental Illness” delusions, Western media’s role in dissuading non-Muslims about the threat of constant Islamic attacks represents the very WORST sort of dissembling. The Propaganda Media [Hat Tip: Richard] outlets that promote this sort of unforgivably willful ignorance need to be sued out of existence for their complicity in these mass killings.

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  4. Oh look at that the Toronto Star turning themselves into a pretzel to tell is it is white when it is really black! Stop watching/buying/reading fakenews everyone.

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  5. Just another day at the office, really. Tards calling Jews apes and pigs and cleanse the world of their filth and then doing taqiyya when they get caught. Blah-blah. It gets old fast. They’re lousy liars too. The only problem is that unless the general western population sees the lie, it remains an epoch-shattering problem.

    The interesting part is Bernie Farber. The truth seems viscous in his monkey paws (sarcastic reference derived from the Muslim sermons for those ready to pounce). He’s way too careful with it to be believed.

    By being more Left-ish than Jew-ish he is a traitor to the Jewish people because his muslim comrades vow to kill him, no? Shouldn’t he be called out? But then I guess we’d just hear more taqiyya…

    Aren’t there enough antisemites around without supporting Jewish ones?.

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  6. well vlad ..all i gotta say is you need a better agent or pr person!!! why?..well I will tell you why…I have now read big huge important articles in the star , the post and some other places and you get a lot of attention for being the w.o.a.t ( worst of all time), which is so great, but but but…it takes about 20 or 30 paragraphs to get to shitting all over you!..so you need to get someone to move you up to the first 3 to 5 paragraphs!! that’s where it is really at baby!..then when the big trial comes you will get a prime spot in a bullet proof glass box right beside the judge!!!

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    • ok, people seem to be taking my comment wrong…i am a big fan and this is funny..see i think he needs more respect and more fame…i am just putting it funny….read it with a funny tone, haters..yeesh!!!

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      • Maybe some day one of our sibling blogs – Clips from the Counterjihad – will score the Southern Poverty Law Center’s ‘hate-groups’ list. Big league.

        But Robert Spencer’s already on it, close enough.

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  7. ok, people seem to be taking my comment wrong…i am a big fan and this is funny..see i think he needs more respect and more fame…i am just putting it funny….read it with a funny tone, haters..yeesh!!!

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  8. “ Those who know nothing about Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those people are witless. Islam says: ‘Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all!’ Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by the infidel? Islam says: ‘Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter them.’ Islam says: ‘Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword.’ The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.” -Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

    You all REALLY need to grasp something here -for the security of yourselves, your family, your country, and the free world ; CIVIL SOCIETY damn well better put a STOP to this influx of EVIL right now, or forever lose all they ever had. I am old, and getting older… there is little I can do. The young around the world better WAKE UP ~ NOW ~ Hateful ‘islamic’ barbarians DO NOT come to your country to ‘fit in’ or ‘assimilate’ into your culture. Get that through your thick skull; THEY HATE YOU, and YOUR CULTURE. They just want what you have -their “mission”, is to MIGRATE (hijrah for allah ), to SPREAD islam, and conquer (or kill) all non-believers for allah. Their ‘mission’ is to dominate, convert, or kill all who would “dare” to say ‘no thank you’ to islam. ( I >refuse< to dignify it with capital letters )

    islam is a veiled evil force using their Trojan Horse of 'Religion' around the world to hide its repulsive and hateful intent. It's followers use koranic deception ( 'taqyya' ) to lie, cheat, and deceive their victims -all in the name of 'allah'. It is the vile and repulsive 'teachings' of a 1400 year old bat-schitt crazy pedophile. As followed by his pathologically insane, -and no doubt, inbred genetic offspring. Whose 'hobbies' include killing defenseless Christian babies, defiling goats, sodamizing little boys and girls, and beheading 'kafirs' ( that's 'unbelievers' and people like you and I )

    Did you know, there are 109 'verses' in the koran which command muslims to kill infidels in very gruesome detail ?

    And that these same moslims are very skilled at 'blending in' within 'civilization ' and living off it while preparing to kill it? Especially so in a nearly blind 'western' civilization like this one, that refuses to see what stares them in the face.

    So let's FACE THE FACTS: ( after all, it’s as simple a ‘a,b,c )
    a) anyone who professes to be a muslim believes in the koran, -the book that tells them all ONE HUNDRED and NINE times to kill 'non-believers'…

    -so therefore,..

    b) THE TRUTH OF IT is that the 'peaceful' ones may be too timid to be radical, but they quietly SUPPORT the radical ones instead, -either with their silence, their money, or both.

    c) therefore, because of islam, THEY ARE ALL GUILTY of anti-freedom and anti-human rights behavior.

    There can eventually be only ONE outcome. Either they will kill all you 'non-believers', —–Sentence redacted—–…

    —-Last paragraph redacted—–

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  9. They can both be right: Dr. Hachimi’s area of expertise is in the language as spoken in Morocco, which is a distinct language from Arabic, as any sociolinguist can tell you (but she didn’t).
    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Atiqa_Hachimi/publications
    https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Atiqa_Hachimi/citations
    Disstertation (2005): Dialect leveling, maintenance and urban identitiy in Morocco Fessi immigrants in Casablanca
    https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/11698

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  11. And there was me thinking that Jews are the desendendts of Apes and Christians are from pigs as we eat pork.
    Hibz needs niking Donkeyman

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  12. for example: 6 – Abderrahim
    Friday, March 03
    A decision in its place and agreement with them, enough of the rhetoric of hatred and hatred, enough of Wahhabism, call on the Jews as if they were the cause of our backwardness, but the cause of our backwardness is ourselves, was not the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH) relations based on respect and reverence? Did not he have business relations with them and mutual interests?
    ———–

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    • Example 6: Taqiyya.

      “…was not the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH) relations based on respect and reverence? ”

      This implies spirit. There is no Spirit of the Law in Muslims, Socialists and ‘Sexuals. They twist it to suit the advantage.

      The cults of low expectations.

      “The Prophet (s.a.w.a) said that the clause of the truce was specifically for Momins (Believer Men) and not for Mominas (Believer Women). It was binding, in terms of the Truce, to return back to Mecca any Momin who escaped from there and reached the Prophet’s camp for refuge but the terms of the truce were silent about the Mominas. At that juncture the Surat al Mumtahanah was revealed.”
      https://www.quora.com/Did-Prophet-Muhammad-violate-the-Treaty-of-Hudaybiyyah

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      • Which is the exact explanation why musselma suicide bombers do not get to screw 72 self-replenishing studs, as like the self-sealing virgins Muslim suicide bombers get as reward from Allah: girls are not equal before God.

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  14. The discussed article also mentions the “Vlad Tepes Blog!” How sweet is that!

    “… After the story broke, Masjid Toronto took all its videos offline but it was too late; a new, edited clip was posted on YouTube, crediting Halevi with its translation and referencing an extreme anti-Muslim ideology known as “counter-jihad.” The account hosting the clip also mentions “Vlad Tepes Blog” in its video description.

    The “counter-jihad” is described by researchers as a loose network of people and groups united by the belief that Muslims are plotting to take over the West. A recent National Post investigation described Rebel News as a “global platform” for the counter-jihad, and linked Vlad Tepes Blog — regarded as a key website in the movement — to a frequent Rebel News contributor…”

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