Following the release of the footage of Hamas terrorists abducting five Israeli women from the Nahal Oz base, many took to social media to argue that the English translation of the Arabic in the video was not accurate, specifically one line, which, if translated correctly, implies that Hamas intends to use the Israeli women as sex slaves.
Hebrew and English subtitles were provided by IDF translators, and about midway through the clip they translate one of the terrorists as saying, “Here are the girls (women who can get pregnant).”
The debate is over the word “sabaya,” which, depending on its spelling and slight pronunciation differences, can mean either young woman or sex slave. The IDF translated it as the second meaning, while Hamas sympathizers are arguing that the term means woman or girls.
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
The IDF translation implied that the Hamas terrorists were plotting on camera the sexual enslavement and rape of young Israeli women. The alternative would imply that the Hamas terrorists were simply pointing out their captives’ youth.
Dr. Edy Cohen, a Middle East analyst and a native Arabic speaker born and raised in Lebanon, told Israel Today that the terrorist quite clearly used the second meaning of “spoils of war, slaves,” with a sexual undertone.
Directly following the use of the word, another terrorist calls the girls “so beautiful” in English in response to the other terrorist’s “sabaya” comment, further alluding to their plans of sexual enslavement.
Jihadist ideology
The use of such terminology and the notion of taking wartime sex slaves is a strong component of modern Jihadist ideology.
The use of sexual slavery as terrorism by jihadist organizations is well documented. 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 word seems to have been popularized by ISIS, with almost all references dating back to ISIS slave markets in Syria.
The word’s origin is in the infamous Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari and has typically been translated as concubine; however, in modern Arabic dialects, particularly those of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, it is a similar sounding but neutral term for women or girls.
This particular hadith has been seen as particularly controversial due to its prominence among jihadist groups, leading to it being banned by Russia in 2022.
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