Ha’aretz, Lost in Translation, XI (Updated)
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.
More from SNAPSHOTS
Mahmoud Abbas’ Diatribe Threatening Israel Included Bogus Canaanite Claim
September 10, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent anti-Israel diatribe that aired on PA TV was monitored and translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Excerpt: "I say to [Israel]: Every stone you have built on our land [...]
CNN Calls House’s Unifying Anti-BDS Vote ‘Divisive’
July 24, 2019
Yesterday, in an overwhelming vote of bipartisan support, the House of Representatives voted 398 to 17 to adopt a resolution opposing the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) campaign. Yet, CNN's headline casts the unifying vote [...]
NY Times Cites Poll, Hides Palestinian Support for Violence
July 9, 2019
The New York Times has struggled to accurately describe polls this year. In January, editor Jonathan Weisman misrepresented Pew polling data to describe a nonexistent surge in Israeli support for the United States under President [...]
CNN’s Zakaria Indulges Palestinian Propagandist Hanan Ashrawi
June 9, 2019
Fareed Zakaria’s weekly Cable News Network (CNN) program (grandiosely named “Global Public Square”) June 9 broadcast included a discussion of the current U.S. Middle East peace plan with guests Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian Authority official) and [...]
In Robert Bernstein Obit, AFP Inappropriately References His Judaism
May 29, 2019
Robert Bernstein (Courtesy the New Press) In its obituary yesterday for American publisher Robert Bernstein, Agence France Presse inserted an inappropriate reference to the Human Rights Watch founder who later turned on the organization due [...]