The occupation of Palestine intensifies

Israeli media’s myopic coverage as violence spirals in the region. Plus, the complexities and nuances of translating literary work.

Under a new, ultra-nationalist Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, violence in the occupied Palestinian territories has been escalating at an alarming rate.

But the continuing human rights abuses, including the theft of Palestinian land to pave the way for Jewish settlers, are not portrayed as such in the Israeli news media. They either ignore the brutality of the occupation or present a military-friendly version of the story – and neither option is good enough for the Israeli government, which has voices of dissent in its crosshairs.

Contributors:
Oren Zviv – Journalist, +972 Mag
Gideon Levy – Columnist, Haaretz
Diana Buttu – Lawyer and analyst
Omar Baddar – Political analyst

On our radar:

The death of one of Rwanda’s most prolific investigative journalists – John Williams Ntwali – has sparked suspicion because of how murky the official narrative on his death is. Producer Nic Muirhead reports on the case.

Lost in translation: How texts change as they travel

The translation of literature, from one language to another, is tricky business – it’s much more subtle than journalism, less direct. When it comes to Arabic and Persian, literature from the Middle East, translations have been known to come up short, leading to cultural misunderstandings. The kind of misunderstandings that reading the books of the “other” is supposed to correct. Producer Tariq Nafi looks at what gets lost in translation.

Contributors:
Layla AlAmmar – Author, Silence is a Sense; academic, University of Lancaster
Susan Bassnet- Translation theorist and emeritus professor, University of Warwick
Muhammad Ali Mojaradi – Translator; founder of @persianpoetics
Leri Price – Literary translator