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.
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