Obama, Nuclear Proliferation and the Politics of Mistranslation

The right wing blogosphere is buzzing with rumors (denied by the White House, according to Ben Smith of Politico) that the Obama administration has refused visas to employees of the Nuclear Research Center-Negev (NRCN) in Dimona, Israel. Roger Simon, blogging at Pajamas Media, claims to be quoting an article published in the Israeli daily Maariv…Nestled in Simon’s (or an uncredited source’s) “exclusive Pajamas Media translation” is the revelation that the English version Simon is quoting “is from a Google translation that I’ve tried to fix up a little bit.” A little bit? Let’s play “Simon Says” and compare his (or his source’s) efforts to what Maariv writer Uri Binder actually wrote. Continue Reading