The Linguist

12 The Linguist Vol/63 No/3 thelinguist.uberflip.com FEATURES his July briefing to the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza by sharing "some voices" from his visit to Deir al Balah earlier that month. Comma Press and Respond Crisis Translation are among the organisations trying to fill the need for grassroots testimony by translating and publishing diaries from ordinary people. "Giving voice to the voiceless is essential. Many in Gaza lack the means to share their experiences globally. Translating their words ensures their stories are heard and acknowledged," says Gazan translator Athar Abu Samra, who fled to Egypt at the end of October and is now working with RCT. "Providing precise translations contributes to a truthful and balanced representation of events, educating and informing global audiences accurately." Nuances lost Ghalayini has been working with writers in Gaza since 2022, and in October three of them started to write rolling diaries for Comma. She translates one from Arabic while the other two are delivered in English through voice notes and require careful editing to ensure the nuances aren't lost due to the writers' limited skills in the language. One of the reasons misunderstandings happen, she suggests, is that such nuances can be missed by Arabic translators who are not from Gaza. "When someone is speaking to a news channel about a Palestinian context, you can't just use any translator/interpreter – it needs to be someone who knows what they're translating, because otherwise it just perpetuates misinformation," she says. There are cases where the emotional weight or severity of the original can be diminished in translation, explains Abu Samra, offering the example ا ل د م ا ء ت م ا ل ش و ا ر ع ('the streets are filled with blood'). Conflict-specific terminology can also prove difficult, she says, and a phrase such as ا ل ق ص ف ا ل ع ش و ا ئ ('indiscriminate shelling') may need an explanation to convey the specific implications to English speakers. "Certain words have lost their context, have lost their meaning," adds Ghalayini. 'Jihad' ( x ) ج ه ا د , for instance, has become synonymous with terrorism and suicide bombers, but it actually means 'struggle'. "It's any kind of struggle – against yourself, against the world. So I think a translator's job is extremely important in this context, because we need to focus on staying alive; we can't be going into 'he said, she said' because someone didn't translate the words right." Both Comma and RCT are doing educational work in this area, but the question is whether individual translators have a responsibility to raise awareness and correct misinterpretations. Ghalayini is unequivocal here: "100% it's my responsibility. If it's not then I don't know what translators should be doing." So when faced with the word 'jihad', used in the sense of everyday struggles, for example, would it be best to use the word 'struggle' or add a gloss? "It depends on the context," she says. "Sometimes there isn't time to explain, but in the bigger context, I think we need to own those words, use them and reuse them in a way that makes people realise what they mean. It's my job as a Palestinian translator to make it clear what those words mean historically and contextually." A heavy workload In the three months from March to May 2024, RCT's Arabic team received six times as many cases related to Gaza as their entire caseload for 2023. There is a huge need for translations from NGOs, law firms, non-profits and individuals applying for humanitarian parole. The work includes legal documents, medical materials and personal documents needed for the asylum process. Before 7 October, the team were already under pressure from crises in Libya, Sudan, Turkey, Morocco and Syria, and they expanded rapidly at the end of 2023 to meet the increased need from Gaza. There was a particular focus on hiring Gazan translators, not only for their knowledge of Gazan Arabic and culture, but also to provide them with the economic means to survive. The income Abu Samra receives from translation work enables her to support herself and her family, who she had to leave in Gaza. "This financial stability is crucial given the challenging circumstances," she says. In terms of the language, RCT project manager Ayah Najadat aims for "the perfect dialectal match". However, the Levantine dialect, spoken across the region, is widely understood by other Arabic speakers, particularly those from North Africa. "And when they are not able to understand something we work collaboratively," she says. Idioms can be a little trickier for Arabic speakers who are not from the area. "For every breath we take, there's a Palestinian idiom," Ghalayini laughs. "Yesterday we were dealing with the expression 'every time the cup clinks with the pot' [ ك ل م ا ي ح ك ا ل ك و ز ف ا ل ج ر ة ], which means something that is happening often. We struggled to translate that one! Idioms are always very complicated when I'm doing translations from Gaza, but equally fun to work on." Under attack For translators in Gaza, the lack of electricity and internet makes it difficult to charge devices and send translations once they're completed. RCT sends them non-urgent cases where possible and provides e-Sims so they can connect to the internet. Nevertheless, getting a signal can involve moving to a more dangerous location. "They don't want to be in the middle of the crowd to get connected to the internet," explains Najadat, who leads the organisation's Arabic team. Translators and writers might 'disappear' for days or weeks on end because they have no internet or are relocating. The week before we spoke, one of the writers Najadat is working with filed a diary entry late. "She emailed to say 'I couldn't get back to you on time because I was relocating from Gaza City to Deir al Balah.' We're always dealing with these situations and from our place there's nothing we can do to make sure these people are safe – just wait." After the war began, translator Mona Ameen Mohammed Nofal found that she couldn't work at all. She had previously been working with the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, but with no internet or electricity she Translators might 'disappear' for days or weeks on end because they have no internet or are relocating STRIVING FOR SURVIVAL Children at a bombed tower block in Rafah that had been housing displaced families

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