I’ve Got Questions
By Mitch Berg
As we’ve noted, Ilhan Omar gave a speech to a Somali audience last week that’s gotten some flak. It’s been in all the papers…
…Well, OK. It’s been in none of the Twin Cities papers. As usual.
Until now.
While “coverage” is out of the question, the Strib posted a “fact check” of the conservative response. There’s less in the fact check than meets the eye – but it hews closely to Rep. Omar’s claim that the translation is ambiguous, or just plain wrong.
The Strib’s claim (emphasis added, to return to later):
Omar’s office pointed to a more accurate translation of her speech posted online. A Star Tribune reporter who speaks Somali listened to the speech and reviewed the transcript, and found it matched Omar’s actual comments. It said:
“My answer was the U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do. We as Somalis should have that confidence in ourselves. We live in this country. We pay taxes in this country. It’s a country where one of your own sits in Congress. As long as I’m in Congress no one will take Somalia’s sea. And the United States will not support other people to rob us. Rest assured Minnesotans. The woman you sent to Congress is aware of you and has the same interest as you.”
The translation now under dispute characterized Omar’s comments this way: “The U.S. government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia … together we will protect the interests of Somalia.”
As someone who knocks around in German and Norwegian, I know that translation begets ambiguity. It’s not unheard of for nuance to drift, or be yanked, in directions that weren’t intended.
So – is Somaliland’s Deputy Finance Minister, presumably a native speaker of Somali, as able to translate the Representative as the Strib’s translator?
She seemed pretty convinced:
Still waiting for the Strib/MPR/the Big Four to tell us whether and why the Somali Deputy Finance Minister’s take was wrong.
And waiting.
And waiting.
February 1st, 2024 at 2:09 pm
I thought journalists were supposed to try to have multiple sources. The Strib found ONE person, an employee whom I’m sure shares the same ideals, leanings, and goals as the rest of the newspaper’s employees, and went with that.
Not that the Twin Cities has paucity of Somali-speaking individuals the two Strib reporters could have contacted.
February 1st, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Given that she makes fun of her apparently poor Somali, I’ve got to assume that she’s stumbling inadvertently into more offensive language that her friend at the Strib is soft-pedaling. I know from personal experience in Germany that when a newcomer to a language makes mistakes, it is rarely on the side of “being excessively polite.”
She might argue that, I guess, but then her position as advocate for Somalia is undermined. My tendency is to say hire a speechwriter who knows the language well! Generally immigrant communities have someone who will do a pretty good job of this.
February 1st, 2024 at 4:46 pm
RINO Emmer thinks he senses blood in the water. The London Daily Mail is on the case, Top Republican Tom Emmer calls for Ethics Committee investigation into Squad’s Ilhan Omar.
I think he’s, true to form, harmlessly LARPing as a patriot to snag a vote or two; he knows any action against Mogadishu Barbie ain’t going nowhere. I mean, that impeachment of Mayorkas can’t even get out of the House (Emmer’s the whip, is he not?).
February 2nd, 2024 at 2:53 am
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February 2nd, 2024 at 6:43 am
I’m not so sure of no action. I’m not trying to be flip here, but in case you haven’t noticed, a lot of those Somali cab drivers, are learning to drive the big rigs, buying trucks, and in some cases, trailers. One of my customers, is a newly formed company of four and counting trucks. They tell me that they are fed up with her, because she is causing significant problems in the local Somali community. They aren’t fans of Omar Fateh, either. Obviously, this is subjective, but, according to them, her constituents are largely white. They claim that there will be a concerted effort to vote against her.
February 3rd, 2024 at 3:02 pm
[…] My piece on Ilhan Omar and the dueling translations. […]