Now there are certainly religious communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza but there are also significant groups of non-religious Jews as well. I have this nagging suspicion that the term settler was coined as a bit of misinformation propaganda and came into the English lexicon as term favoured to bring about the maximum depersonalization of the Israelis living there - to render them more truly one of the “other”. You could easily use the term Israeli/Jewish homeowner in replacement of the term “settler” and I suspect it would reflect with a far greater accuracy the common characteristics of the so-called “setter” but whether that intention was deliberate or not, it certainly characterizes the situation today.
Walking among the tens of thousands of Israeli protesters at Moshav Kfar Maimon this week was like being witness to a miracle. There in the scorching summer heat were thousands upon thousands of families with children of all ages, young men and women and elderly people, living under siege and in conditions that would make an infantryman cringe.
And yet, there was no complaining. There was no shouting. There was no pushing. There was no garbage on the ground. There was no stench of any kind. What one saw in the protesters' faces and heard in each and every statement and conversation was dignity, determination, integrity, faith and a form of earthy, plainspoken and unabashed patriotism and concern for the greater good that has become an artifact of a barely remembered past for many Israelis.
Read the whole column here. Then surf over to Israellycool where there really are Israeli cool pictures taken from the Kfar Maimon protest that were not shown on any broadcast that I saw on CNN, Fox or CBC’s the National nor did I find see them in any Canadian daily last week.
5 comments:
" I have always had problems with the term “settler”."
That's interesting, Kateland. I guess you're not aware that the areas in question has historically (at least since 1967), been termed "settlements?"
This was land that the State of Israel occupied after the war. This land has continued to be in dispute.
With that in mind, I don't see how difficult it would be to understand the term "settlers" especially as it's a derivative of the English word, "settlements."
Since 1967, since the "settlers" arrived, it's just stuck. No Hebrew mystery there.
"Since 1967, since the "settlers" arrived, it's just stuck. No Hebrew mystery there." Gee Ian, what would I do without you to enlighten me? Now since you are so familiar with Hebrew perhaps you can take the time to explain the difference between mitnahalim and mityashvim? Of course, some would say it was far more accurate to say that the Jews returned rather than arrived to settle the land considering that prior to 1949 there were Jews in Gaza and Judea but perhaps that just too inconvenient a fact for you to know?
Your sarcasm unbecomes you, Kateland.
No, that is not an inconvenient "fact" for me to know.
From the Jewish Virtual Library:
" “Settlements” are actually towns and villages where Jews have gone to live since the capture of Judea and Samaria — the West Bank — and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war . In many cases, flourishing Jewish communities lived in the same area for thousands of years.
Strategic concerns led both Labor and Likud governments to establish settlements. The first were built by Labor governments from 1968-1977. The objective was to secure a Jewish majority in key strategic regions of the West Bank, such as the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem corridor, the scene of heavy fighting in several Arab-Israeli wars."
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/settlements.html
Does that help any with the use of the word "settler?"
My blog entry refers not to the English meaning of the term “settler” but rather the translation from the Hebrew into English. I have no doubt that the term settler refers to someone who lives in a “settlement” nor did I quibble that settler is the common usage in the English translation of the Hebrew words mitnahalim and/or mityashvim but is that really accurate to use render both words settler in English? And cannot the word settler also be synonymous with pioneer in English? And I will say again that I have it on good authority that there are no synonyms in Hebrew. So which is more accurate?
Furthermore, is it accurate to say one can settle a land that one is returning to or repossessing? I can find you a 100 rabbi's who would dispute that mityashvim is the correct word to describe those Jews living in communities in Gaza, Samaria and Judea, and yet, I can find another 100 rabbi's who will say the correct word is mitnahalim. Why is it considered accurate to describe the Jewish communities Gaza, Samaria or Judea as settlements and not Jewish communities? Hence my original reference to the mistranslation by Christians of the sixth commandment "Thou shall not kill" which in Hebrew is Thou shall not murder. The Hebrew word for murder is l’rtzach and kill is l’rhog. Too very different words and two vastly different concepts and yet the mistranslation is the common English usage of the Hebrew word l’rtzach. If the Jewish Virtual Library was around in 1975 there would be no reference to a group of Arabs as Palestinians but rather than Arabs. In the not so distant past a Palestinian referred to Jews and Christians as well as Arabs living in a distinct geographical area. Now it is in vogue to call the Arab people in the geographical location of Israel, Samaria, Judea and Gaza as the Palestinians. The change only came as the result of a politicized agenda of the PLO Arabs attempt to establish a claim to the land historically that pre-dates Jewish claims to the land. I suppose you have never heard Arafat's claim that Jesus of Nazareth was not a Jew but a Palestinian either?
" My blog entry refers not to the English meaning of the term “settler” but rather the translation from the Hebrew into English."
After reading this comment, and your previous one, may I point out that you did not get into much detail about this "mistranslation," nor did you point out the two Hebrew words you were referring to in your original post.
"Furthermore, is it accurate to say one can settle a land that one is returning to or repossessing?"
Who EXACTLY is "returning to" or "repossessing?" The individuals that lawfully possessed the land?
Or are you referring to an entire race of people claiming it as their land because of history 2,000 years ago?
Your suggestion that Jews lived in the area prior to 1967 or even 1948 doesn't mean very much, if you are not identifying those individuals, who lawfully possessed land, and those are the ones "returning."
Or are you suggesting that because a race of people called Israel lived in a geographical area and had a state more than 2,000 years ago, their descendants have a rightful claim to the land today?
"If the Jewish Virtual Library was around in 1975 there would be no reference to a group of Arabs as Palestinians but rather than Arabs. In the not so distant past a Palestinian referred to Jews and Christians as well as Arabs living in a distinct geographical area."
So? If you check any Enclopeadia prior to 1947, or any geographical maps, there was no state of Israel, or "Israelites" either, other than historical accounts from over 2,000 years ago.
"The change only came as the result of a politicized agenda of the PLO Arabs attempt to establish a claim to the land historically that pre-dates Jewish claims to the land."
What exactly are these "claims" and to when do they date, for Jewish claims to the land?
What makes these claims more legitimate than anyone else's claims?
Seriously... I'd love to understand the reasoning behind this.
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