JPost Acknowledges 'Map' Mistranslation Topic

The Jerusalem Post Features "Rumor of the Century" Article

The Jerusalem Post, founded in 1932 as The Palestine Post, bills itself as Israel's "best-selling English daily and most-read English website". Its readers can keep up with news in Israel, international news, and "The Iranian Threat" (which is given its own prominently featured section). Naturally, the flawed notion that Ahmadinejad said "Israel must be wiped off the map" is repeated on a regular basis in the pages of this influential daily newspaper.

Recently, JPost columnist Michael Freund, a former Communications Director for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote a piece titled: "Five Reasons To Bomb Iran Now" [11/22/07]. "Ahmadinejad is gleefully pressing forward with his efforts to build a bomb", writes Freund, whom he describes as the "Hitler of Persia". Of course, just 2 weeks later, a new National Intelligence Estimate collecting the findings of 16 U.S. spy agencies stated that Iran stopped its alleged weapons program in 2003 (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005). The NIE report, which was actually withheld for months, did not refer to whether Ahmadinejad had a "gleeful" disposition about his nations' non-existent nuclear weapons program.

Freund continues, "A nuclear-armed Iran will pose an existential threat to Israel, and ultimately to the West too. Iranian leaders have repeatedly and explicitly promised to wipe Israel off the map and to strike at the United States." Note the plural 'Iranian leaders', none of whom are named. The closest that Iran has come to such threats is to state--in response to repeated threats of military threats by the U.S. and Israel, that it would retaliate against any attack on the country. If the claims put forth by Michael Freund were actually true, they would be common knowledge.

Finishing with an alarmist quote from radical pro-war neocon John Bolton, Freund concludes that it's "quite obvious that there really is no choice at all: the US and/or Israel must bomb Iran. . . And they should do so now - before it is too late."

In response to Freund's article, a reader posted a comment challenging the "wiped off the map" claim. The comment was selected for the Jerusalem Post's "Hot Potato" section, in which a reader comment is individually featured for other readers to comment upon. The page linked to the Mossadegh Project's "WIPED OFF THE MAP"- The Rumor of the Century article to serve as a basis for discussion. The comment published on the Jerusalem Post posted 11/22/07:

'WIPED OFF THE MAP' rumor is totally false, so why lie?'

Text: Mr. Freund, the fact that you insist on repeating the lie that Iran wants to "wipe Isreal off the map" is proof alone of your dishonesty. Do you know Persian? If not, perhaps you should read this article by Arash Norouzi and learn what was really said.

The decision to feature this topic marks the Jerusalem Post's first formal acknowledgement of their awareness of the mistranslation issue. In addition, the linked "Rumor of the Century" article specifically cites the Jerusalem Post (as well as competitor Haaretz), in a section titled "Media Irresponsibility", and accuses both publications of plagiarism...a charge that is backed up with solid proof which can be easily verified.

Of all people, it's particularly important that Israelis themselves understand the distinction between a rival government which strongly opposes Zionism, and one which intends to start an actual war with their state, much less 'wipe it off the map'. Much has been made of Ahmadinejad's rhetoric. Since we are going by the rhetoric, it should be known that despite claims to the contrary, Iran has never threatened any such thing against any country. Making that differentiation is not a defense of the despotic Islamic Republic regime, it is merely a clarification of facts.