Following the release of the footage of the abduction of five Israeli women from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas, some anti-Israel activists took to social media to argue that the English translation of the Arabic heard in the video was inaccurate, specifically, one line, which, if translated correctly, implied that the terrorists were planning on sexually assaulting their victims.
Hebrew and English subtitles were provided by IDF translators, and about midway through the clip, the subtitles read: “Here are the girls, (women who can get pregnant).”
The debate is over the Arabic word sabaya. It can either be understood to mean, depending on its spelling and slight pronunciation differences, a young woman, or – a sex slave. The IDF translated it per the latter interpretation, while Hamas sympathizers argued that the term was simply being used to refer to the captives as “women” or “girls.”
In other words, the IDF’s translation implied that the Hamas terrorists were plotting, at this moment caught on camera, to sexually enslave and rape the young Israeli women, whereas the alternative would be that they were just pointing out their captives’ youth.This is an irresponsible paragraph by @shira_rubin in the @washingtonpost. The Arabic word “sabaya” doesn’t have sexual connotations. This is playing on racist and orientalist tropes about Arabs and Muslims. Relying on the fabricated IDF “translation” of the word isn’t journalism pic.twitter.com/eOU1tIHtMB
— Laila Al-Arian (@LailaAlarian) May 23, 2024
Dr. Edy Cohen, a Middle East analyst and a native Arabic speaker who was born and raised in Lebanon, told Israel Hayom that the terrorists clearly acted as though they were handling “spoils of war, slaves,” using rhetoric that overtly carried sexual undertones.
What is more, directly after the term was used, another terrorist called the women “so beautiful” in English, responding to the other terrorist’s sabaya comment, further alluding to their plans of sexual assault and enslavement.
Jihadist ideology
The use of such terminology and the notion of taking wartime sex slaves is a strong component of contemporary jihadist ideology.
Sexual slavery as a form of warfare that is implemented by jihadist organizations worldwide is a well-documented phenomenon. Most notable are cases by members of the Islamic State (ISIS) against Yazidi women and girls, as well as by Boko Haram against Nigerian women and girls.
The term sabaya seems to have been popularized by ISIS, with almost all references connecting back to ISIS slave markets in Syria.
The word’s origin is rooted in the infamous hadith reports found in the book Sahih al-Bukhari and has typically been translated as “concubine.”
However, in modern Arabic dialects, particularly those found in Palestinian terminology in Lebanon and Syria, it is a similar-sounding, yet neutral term used to refer to women and girls.
This particular hadith has been seen as especially controversial due to its prominence among jihadist groups, leading to it being banned by Russia in 2022.