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[casi] Re: translating german professor



> not present a problem: Professor Sommerfeld is
> bound to be delighted, especially if the
> translator happens to be a collegue, as I suspect.

Dear Elga,

Flattering of you to think of me that, but no, I am just a translator by
profession. It's only that this thread (the fate of Iraqi heritage) is
something I find worthwhile to follow.

Your warning is quite in order. I thought of that, although I did not raise
the issue at this stage. Of course I would never start translating the article
without contacting the author first. This might perhaps be done directly by
someone among those responsible for running CASI, or someone on the list who
is really in his field. I could also ask the acquaintance who first called my
attention to the article and who is currently at a German university, to
approach the Professor. At the same time it would be wise to ask Professor
Sommerfeld as to how or by whom he would prefer the translation to be done. In
addition, once connection is established, the Professor might be willing to
impart further information to CASI, and that would be great.

As for the assumption that his field excludes the possibility of bias, I don't
think it is absolutely out of the question. I have already pointed out that
Deblauwe, without the least of malice, I feel, does mention the possibility.
And for the sake of CASI's credibility, I think it should be checked on.

Whatever the truth be, charges of bias are not at all unlikely to be leveled.
The mere fact that the German professor spent the last two years in Iraq under
Saddam lends an opportunity to potential opponents. I have just read an
interview on Iraq with a prominent orientalist, published in the April issue
of a Hungarian monthly. The man blames Saddam for everything and makes the
point that he himself decided in 1987 never to return to Iraq while the
despicable dictator is in power. And from that point on it would be very easy
to try and discredit those of his colleagues who did otherwise. In fact, he
explicitly questions the credibility of Iraqi archeologists, who in his mind
were often just following orders and falsifying history. When asked about the
lootings, he goes out of his way to play down US responsibility - indeed, he
clearly absolves the invaders and hints the looting was done by Iraqi special
forces dressed in civilian clothes, on the last order of Saddam, so as to take
revenge and make sure the Americans would get the blame for the mess! It is
not impossible, he says, that the museum staff helped them to the treasures.
And to top it all, he asserts that 'the prudent - yes, I repeat, prudent - way
the Americans waged the war did not allow them to use Russian methods. The
collections of the museums in occupied Berlin were immediately transferred to
Leningrad... Should the Americans have aimed at taking possession of the
treasures right away? That would have triggered even more vociferous
complaints!'

Please don't laugh and don't cry. This is an authoritative voice. The man is
the most prominent scholar in the field in my country. But, as witness many of
his assertions in the interview and the whole thrust of it, he is clearly
biased against Arabs, and excessively pro-Israeli.

Best,
Attila

P.S. Elga, the fact that my name in my e-mail address does not conform to
international pattern seems to mislead you as to what is what. We Hungarians
have it the other way round - or rather, the rest of the (western) world put
names in the wrong order. We go from big to small, from the general to the
particular, or from the total to the partial. It is the same with dates. The
date yesterday was 2003/06/05 in Hungarian. Our way of seeing things is
vindicated by dictionaries in all languages, which list names necessarily
beginning with the surname. And I am waiting to see the rest of the world
recognize we are right and convert to our point of view soon! :)

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