Faulty Translation

Reader comment on item: Accept Israel as the Jewish State?

Submitted by Blackspeare (United States), Nov 28, 2007 at 20:47

Dr. Pipes:

You and others tend to use the following quote, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "Israel must be wiped off the map." The actual translation from Farsi is that Ahmadinejad said that the "Israeli regime must be wiped off the map" which has a different meaning. Essentially Ahmadinejad was calling for a regime change exactly what Bush said about Iraq. However, there's no doubt that Iran would prefer a "one-state" solution.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Yes, there have been various attempts to tone down Ahmadinejad's statement but so far as I know the translation I supplied is the correct one. I welcome evidence to show otherwise.