Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OyUoGUV7b8
Transcript from excerpts of the above used on ABC:
Conspiracists take this to mean they were sent there to document the event. The most obvious reason is that is why they were filming, to document the event. Lots of people were filming that day, also documenting the event without being part of the plot.
9/11 Myth's page on the subject makes the same point:
http://www.911myths.com/html/dancing_israelis.html
In the clip above, the audio and video does not match the voice-over. The first clip does, saying: "And at that point, we were taken for another round of questioning, this time related to our alleg-edly being members of Mossad", and you can just make out the word המוסד (HMWSD H'mossad) in the second of silence. But that's as much as I could get out of it. The translation then is presented as if Ellner alone was talking, any yet we see both the other students, and one seems to say something - although possible just an interjection.
The underlying audio in that section is NOT long enough to say what is heard in the voiceover:
https://www.metabunk.org/attachments/document-the-event-m4a.34698/
But Ellner seems to be speaking for only three seconds, and that with pauses.
So it seems plausible to me that the translation is somewhat misleading edited - cutting together things to make it seem like he's saying "we came from our country ... to document the event." He's not even saying that, of course, even in the translation. But finding the original video would be a great help in explaining that to people.
Transcript from excerpts of the above used on ABC:
Something I see coming up over and over in 9/11 conspiracy circles is the claim that "Mossad agents" were seen celebrating the events. A key piece of evidence that they bring up is the above quote from one of the young men (temporary student workers at a moving company) saying (via translation) "Our purpose was to document the event."
MILLER: (VO) Ellner also complained that they had been mistreated and sub-jected to repeated interrogations.
Mr. ELLNER: (Through translator, from Israeli talk show) And at that point, we were taken for another round of questioning, this time related to our alleg-edly being members of Mossad.
MILLER: (VO) Although Paul and Sivan would not talk with us about the inci-dent, Sivan and two of the other detainees did go on an Israeli talk show after their return. Oded Ellner denied they were laughing or happy that today.
Mr. ODED ELLNER: (Through translator, from Israeli talk show) Nothing of the kind, the fact of the matter is, we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event.
Conspiracists take this to mean they were sent there to document the event. The most obvious reason is that is why they were filming, to document the event. Lots of people were filming that day, also documenting the event without being part of the plot.
9/11 Myth's page on the subject makes the same point:
http://www.911myths.com/html/dancing_israelis.html
But how to convey this? Something that would be very useful here would be to get more from the Israeli talk show the young men were on. It's in Hebrew, but translation should not be impossible. There's some of the original audio in the clip above, which might contain some clues.Here it’s suggested that saying “our purpose was to document the event” is in itself somehow suspicious, that it indicates foreknowledge. Why? We’ve no idea. Every single person who pointed a camera at the WTC on 9/11 did so because they wanted to “document the event”. The phrase indicates precisely nothing at all.
In the clip above, the audio and video does not match the voice-over. The first clip does, saying: "And at that point, we were taken for another round of questioning, this time related to our alleg-edly being members of Mossad", and you can just make out the word המוסד (HMWSD H'mossad) in the second of silence. But that's as much as I could get out of it. The translation then is presented as if Ellner alone was talking, any yet we see both the other students, and one seems to say something - although possible just an interjection.
The underlying audio in that section is NOT long enough to say what is heard in the voiceover:
In Hebrew that would be:the fact of the matter is, we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event.
This takes six seconds to say. Listen to Bing say it here:העובדה היא שאנחנו מגיעים ממדינה. שחווה טרור כל יום המטרה שלנו הייתה. לתעד את האירוע
https://www.metabunk.org/attachments/document-the-event-m4a.34698/
But Ellner seems to be speaking for only three seconds, and that with pauses.
So it seems plausible to me that the translation is somewhat misleading edited - cutting together things to make it seem like he's saying "we came from our country ... to document the event." He's not even saying that, of course, even in the translation. But finding the original video would be a great help in explaining that to people.
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