Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation, XI (Updated)

By Published On: March 25, 2012

Karni Eldad.jpg
Eldad wrote in Hebrew that settlers cleared rocks. Ha’aretz‘s English translators translated settlers “cleared rocks” into settlers “expelled”

Ha’aretz Lost in Translation strikes again. This time it’s an Op-Ed by pro-settlement writer Karni Eldad, which states in the English version:

Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria can be broken down into a number of periods – the settlement period, during which dozens of communities were established (mostly under the Labor Party, and much of it due to President Shimon Peres ); the agricultural period, during which settlers took over land, expelled, planted and sowed; and the period of tourism, during which wineries, bed and breakfasts, restaurants and tourist attractions were built under every tree. (Emphasis added.)

That an advocate of the settlements would allege that settlers “expelled” seems highly unlikely. Indeed, a glance at the original Hebrew version tells us that in fact Karni Eldad did not at all write that settlers “expelled.” The bolded English phrase above appears as follows in the original Hebrew:

תקופת החקל?ות, שבה נ?חזו המתיישבי? בקרקע, סיקלו, נטעו וזרעו

The translation of the bolded English section is actually:

the agricultural period, during which settlers held onto the land, cleared stones, planted and sowed.

Thus, while Eldad wrote that settlers cleared stones (“seeklu“), Ha’aretz‘s English editors insisted that the settlers “expelled” (“seelku“).

Furthermore, the Hebrew word “ne’achzu,” which Ha’aretz translates as “took over the land,” is not exactly that. While “taking over the land” has a negative connotation implying that it was taken over from someone, the word “ne’achzu,” which doesn’t have a precise English translation, does not imply the displacement of others. The infinitive of the Hebrew verb most accurately means “to hold on.”

Update, 8:33 EST — Ha’aretz has quietly changed the online article, replacing “expelled,” with “cleared stones.” The online story does not indicate that the earlier version was erroneous, as is customary in most media outlets. It remains to be seen whether the paper will issue a correct in the print edition, where the error also appeared.

Udate, March 26 — Ha’aretz commendably corrects in the print edition.

We expose the anti-Israel lies so you don't have to. But we can't do it without your help. Join the fight -- Donate now
Tell the World – Share Now!

More from SNAPSHOTS

  • Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights

    May 14, 2025

    Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]

  • AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”

    August 10, 2021

    A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]

  • NY Times Defends Holocaust-Inversion

    March 22, 2021

    The historian Deborah Lipstadt described Holocaust inversion — the act of described Jews in Israel as the new Nazis — as a form of "soft-core denial." This style of Holocaust denial is part of an [...]

  • NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism

    August 19, 2020

    A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]

  • When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice

    August 11, 2020

    Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN.   MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]

  • Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR

    July 7, 2020

    WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]

  • CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Declares That Israel Does Not Want Peace

    June 25, 2020

    Fareed Zakaria and Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister of Israel (June 21 broadcast) In the teaser at the beginning of his June 21 show “Global Public Square” (GPS), Zakaria drew this unwarranted, likely agenda-driven [...]

  • Haaretz Applies Inconsistent Standards to NGOs

    June 17, 2020

    A news story in Haaretz's English edition yesterday applied a double standard in its treatment of NGOs ("Fearing structural collapse, Israel halts dig in East Jerusalem," page 3, and online here.) Nir Hasson's online article [...]

  • Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America

    June 2, 2020

    Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]

  • Reuters Arabic Misidentifies Dome of Rock

    June 2, 2020

    The following photo and caption appeared in the Arabic version of an article by Reuters’ Stephen Farrell, published on April 24 and dedicated to the opening Friday of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem: [...]