Reykjavík Grapevine - sep. 2021, Blaðsíða 6

Imagine you’re laid out, soaking up
some rays in the lovely green area
of Elli$aárdalur, living your absolute
best life when, out of nowhere, the
skies darken. You squint through your
extended hand to see a large dark
mass travelling across the sky—and
it’s coming straight for you. That’s it.
You’re about to punch your last card.
And with all that’s going on in the news
these days, admit it, you’re not even
surprised the world is about to end.
Just when you’re about to start
begging for forgiveness for all those
times you swore you’d be a better per-
son but, you know, never got around
to it, you’re surrounded by a distinct
and potent earthy smell. Within mere
moments, the sky brightens and your
outstretched hand has inadvertently
caught the flying object. It lands with
determination and force like Thor sum-
moning the mighty Mjölnir.
When you collect yourself enough to
identify what’s happened, it turns out
you’re holding no less than six pounds
of high grade marijuana. Delivered
straight from the skies above. It’s like
the opening scene to a supernatural
90’s stoner flick.
At least that’s what your mind would
conjure up if you had the pleasure of
reading a recent Google Translate
snafu on RÚV which confusingly read,
"Caught six pounds of marijuana in the
sun", instead of the original Icelandic
title, "Veiddi sex punda maríulaxinn í
sólinni".
The confusion likely came from, well,
no one has a clue. Interestingly, maríu-
laxinn is just the term for the very first
salmon a person has ever caught, in
some strange nod to the Virgin Mary.
Other than maríu sounding somewhat
like mariju, there is no linguistic basis
for this blunder. So it seems to be just
another example of Google Translate
taking a puff and mellowing out too
hard to give a damn on this one. DT
The Icelandic Football Association
(KSÍ) has effectively collapsed within
the span of a week.
It began with #órhildur Gy"a Arnars-
dóttir, a woman who bravely came
forward and recounted for RÚV the
2017 sexual assault she was subjected
to by a member of the national team.
#órhildur said she had been asked to
sign a non-disclosure agreement about
the matter—a request she refused.
She told reporters that her father had
subsequently contacted KSÍ about the
matter, but then-director Gu"ni Bergs-
son responded to press inquiries by
saying that he was never made aware
of any players committing sexual
assaults.
This turned out to be a huge mistake,
because it was demonstrably false.
The light of day
The press was then provided with a
copy of an email #órhildur’s father had
sent to several members of KSÍ follow-
ing his daughter’s assault, including
to Gu"ni and KSÍ managing director
Klara Bjartmarz. Caught in a lie, Gu"ni
resigned and KSÍ issued a lukewarm
apology.
Their statement ended up having
the opposite of its intended effect,
especially as Klara doubled-down
with reporters in repeating that the
board was never made aware of sexual
assaults committed by players, despite
the aforementioned email suggesting
otherwise.
The pressure pays off
After activist groups Öfgar and Bleiki
Fíllinn, various sports groups and
sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Icelan-
dair began expressing their great
disappointment with KSÍ’s handling of
the matter, the board of KSÍ announced
their collective resignation.
It remains to be seen what, if
anything, KSÍ will do to change its
club’s culture and prevent further
violence being committed by athletes
who are supposed to be role models.
Iceland's immigrant population—
which includes those who are now
citizens, capable of voting in parlia-
mentary elections—is over 15%, but
this is not reflected in the number of
immigrants currently in Parliament.
How do we account for this? We asked
Eva H. Önnudóttir, a professor in po-
litical science at the University of Ice-
land, for her take:
"There's definitely not one simple
answer to why there are so few im-
migrants in Parliament. But one thing
that comes to mind is how recently
it's been since we've begun receiv-
ing a large amount of immigrants
in Iceland. We're talking about this
starting around 1994 or ‘95, when im-
migrants began to really arrive here.
It's my understanding that it's o"en
the second generation of immigrants
who get into politics; that is, the chil-
dren of people born abroad. So maybe
there's a time factor. There may also
be certain obstacles or restrictions
in the system, where there's either
nothing encouraging immigrants to
run for o#ce, or maybe they're not as
connected with Icelandic society and
politics as those who were born here.
It could also be that immigrants, es-
pecially first generation immigrants,
are paying more attention to politics
in their home countries than in Ice-
land. So there's really no one simple
answer. But we are seeing more and
more immigrants on the candidates
lists of certain political parties, which
is of course a good thing. It could also
be that immigrants are rather partici-
pating more in municipal elections, or
that political parties are not trying to
reach people who aren’t yet citizens
and therefore cannot yet vote in par-
liamentary elections." °
ASK AN
Expert
Q: Why Are There So
Few Immigrants In
Parliament?
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine
& Eva H. Önnudóttir
Photo: Kristinn Ingvarsson
Icelandic Football
Association Under Fire
A series of sexual assaults, a cover-up and resi&nations
Words:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine

Photo:
Art Bicnick
First 6 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 09— 2021
LOST IN GOOGLE TRANSLATION
KSÍ is feeling the heat
Dude, Where’s
My Carp?
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