Ha’aretz‘s Lie in Translation

By Published On: January 16, 2011

The phrase “lost in translation” does not begin to do justice to what transpired today in Zvi Bar’el’s opinion column in Ha’aretz. Referring to a proposal by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat linking the eviction of Jews residing illegally in a Silwan building to the eviction of Palestinians living illegally in the same neighborhood, the Hebrew version of the column states:

בית שבו גרי? יהודי? ב?ופן בלתי חוקי יוחלף בבית שבו מתגוררי? פלסטיני? ב?ופן בלתי חוקי

Which means: “A house in which Jews live illegally will be exchanged for a house in which Palestinians live illegally.” (Emphasis added.)

And yet, the English version of this article, states:

A house in which Jews live illegally will be exchanged for a house in which Palestinians live entirely legally. (Emphasis added.)

Is this either an entirely innocent slip of the pen or perhaps subconscious editorializing on the translator’s part? It’s impossible to know, but the introduction of the word “entirely,” which does not appear in the Hebrew original, suggests something perhaps more deliberate at play here.

Either way, in case you were wondering which version is actually correct, check back at this earlier story in Ha’aretz, which identified the Abu Na’eb home as belonging to the Ateret Cohanim organization.

Check back for an update about a correction.

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