FBI: Jews Need Not Apply For Arabic Linguist Jobs

www.worldnetdaily.com ^ | October 9, 2003 | Paul Sperry

[Mars55]

Despite a shortage of Arabic translators, the FBI turned down applications for linguist jobs from nearly 100 Arabic-speaking Jews in New York following the World Trade Center attacks, WorldNetDaily has learned.

[mware]

We are in need of a Porter Goss at the FBI.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[RinaseaofDs]

Translation is some of the most sensitive work there is. All I implied was that I could see why the FBI did it. The story doesn't say how many actually were hired, or talk about the specific reasons why the others weren't hired.

[SJackson]

Part of the problem with Jews who speak Arabic is that many of them have immediate ties at one or two removes with Iraq itself.

As opposed to an Arab who speaks Arabic that has immediate ties to Iraq?

They aren't hiring Arabic speaking Norwegians to fill these jobs.

[RightWhale]

Ahlan. Ana ismee Rightwhale.

Should that be right to left?

.elahwthgiR eemsi anA .nalhA

LOL

[SJackson]

Yup. I can see why they might have been excluded. Two reasons right up front.
1. Ties to Israeli Intelligence.
2. Not enough information to clear the candidate's background sufficient for employment.
This looks like another FBI hit piece. Out of context.

That's nonsense, which is why the FBI never used the excuse. The FBI is quite competant at doing security checks. As I recall, this turned out to be a relatively low level decision, for which there were no explanations.

I'm curious, how would a 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Jew be more of an inherant security risk than an 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Arab.

[RinaseaofDs]

i/I'm curious, how would a 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Jew be more of an inherant security risk than an 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Arab./i

Without doing a proper background check, I couldn't tell you. You can't make blanket generalizations about nationalites in individual hiring decisions.

The son of a leader for Hamas might be the right man for the translator job, simply because his dad killed his mom and hates him for it.

You can't know these things unless you do the work. Again, all I can tell you is that there wasn't enough information in the article to make a judgement about the FBI. I do know that the way it was written, the FBI comes out looking bad, however. This is generally what happens in the press - it's the government or Americans that are the idiots.

What we do know is that the FBI has been partially responsible in keeping us terrorist-attack free since 9/11. That cannot have been an easy thing to succeed at. On that basis, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Racehorse]

Everybody should learn Arabic so we don't even need translaters, and this is because it looks like we are going to be involved with things Arabic for a long time. It can't be that hard to learn, considering that 3 year olds on the streets of Baghdad and Cairo can speak it. . . . American schools should immediately make plans to begin teaching Arabic in our schools in order to make it easier to understand these people and what they are up to (especially terrorists). I'm serious about this; I think you are, too. We cannot afford to remain so "cut off" from a major world civilization, some of who members have lethal issues with us.

The average American . . . I among them . . . is too lazy, too busy, not capable, or simply not interested.

I am forever amazed, and somewhat shamed, to see on the news some Afghani out in the middle of some swirling dust pit speaking better English than I speak the prevalent non-English language spoken around here. When and how did they learn?

What you're asking, not unreasonably, calls for quite a revolution in education. Think of the politics set to boil up over that!

[Redbob]

I don't need to understand Arabic - Arabs need to understand this:

[RightWhale]

When Saddam was 12 his uncle gave him a Model 1911 so that Saddam could attend school. Saddam wore it to school and everywhere else from then on. Point is, they know Arabic, English, AND Browning. We know English and Browning. Would it not be advantageous to know a little more?

[RightWhale]

The problem is like you said. Want to go mainstream, Cairo is the center of the Arabic world. But maybe the Cairo dialect wouldn't get 100% of what the heck OBL is saying.

[Tamar1973]

It has little to do with religion and more to do with the fact that they probably refuse to renounce any Israeli citizenship they may hold. The FBI, CIA, etc., don't look kindly on dual-nationals.

[hershey]

A really stupid decision.

[muawiyah]

...... and the problem is the simple logistics of doing the background check to clear the applicant to do confidental, secret, top secret, or higher translations.

I pointed out that when you have a grandparent in Israel who came from Iraq, and maybe a parent or sibling in France, and you live in New York City, the clearance process can be exceedingly difficult.

I worked for a while with a fellow who'd held a chair at Moscow University in a very narrow field. He'd have gotten a security clearance for the work he was doing without difficulty except that every single individual in Moscow who knew him well, even his relatives, had immigrated to the United States, France, Germany, Argentina, Australia or Israel. They were everywhere!

The clearance could not be obtained in time. He moved to a different job that didn't require a clearance. He was replaced by another individual who shared the same religion, but he'd taken care to make sure his mother and father were born in the US, not Russia, and he'd lived at only 2 addresses his entire life. He had a clearance already!

[SJackson]

I don't have time to link them, but there were a number of articles and several threads on the issue when it happened which went into more detail. This is actually a rehash of very old news, and for all I know things have changed.You could probably find them with a search on FR. As I recall the decision was made by a mid level supervisor in New York. There were less than a hundred jobs to fill, for which a Sephardi Jewish group sent over about 125 applicants, none of which were hired. The initial excuse was that they might have a "pro-Israel" bias in translation, soon changed to "they all failed the tests". Without doing a proper background check, I couldn't tell you. You can't make blanket generalizations about nationalities in individual hiring decisions.

Exactly my point.

The dialect of Arabic that my Iraqi-Jew family speaks is Iraqi but not mainstream Iraqi....

I used the Iraqi example because the poster I was responding to used it. The candidates, both Jewish and Muslim, came from throughout the Arabic speaking world. True or not, dialect could certainly be a legitimate issue, however the FBI didn't raise it. As frequently happens, Freepers have a better handle on these things than mid level bureaucrats.

[muawiyah]

Actually, they are probably hiring Norwegians who are fluent in Arabic to do the translations. If you recall, Norway has this immense oil industry infrastructure and they hire all sorts of specialists. In oil, you speak Odessa-Midland or Arabic, and sometimes both. Odds are they are NOT hiring Swedes to do the job unless they can get some of Ikea's managers to switch hit.

[SJackson]

It's irrelevant, but I doubt many of these people held Israeli citizenship, most, or their parents, fled here directly from the Arab world. BTW, They may have done security or mil work for the Israelis also which is a no no for the US, understandably. is in no way a "no-no". Lot's of Americans have worked for and with the Israeli military, both in and out of uniform. Many Israelis work in sensitive positions in the US.