A number of writers have blamed the flare-up over a simple mis-translation. For example, Melanie Philips:
Reuters translated the Hebrew word ‘shoah’ as ‘holocaust’. But ‘shoah’ merely means disaster. In Hebrew, the word ‘shoah’ is never used to mean ‘holocaust’ or ‘genocide’ because of the acute historical resonance. The word ‘Hashoah’ alone means ‘the Holocaust’ and ‘retzach am’ means ‘genocide’. The well-known Hebrew construction used by Vilnai used merely means ‘bringing disaster on themselves’.
Never used? Well, lets employ teh Googles and see what happens. Try the search terms "Holocaust Shoa".
Hmm! Pages and pages of stuff (121,000 references). For example, this from wiki:
The biblical word Shoa (שואה) (also spelled Shoah and Sho'ah), meaning "calamity," became the standard Hebrew term for the Holocaust as early as the 1940s. Shoa is preferred by many Jews for a number of reasons, including the theologically offensive nature of the original meaning of "holocaust."
And other results include:
The Holocaust\Shoah Page
Holocaust (Shoah) Research Resources
SHOAH--THE HOLOCAUST
SHOAH - HOLOCAUST LINKS
Maybe these are all mistranslations. Or maybe Melanie Philips is talking out her ass and conning the usual suspects.
4 comments:
What's the old line - scratch a progressive, and you'll find an anti-semite.
Pretty soon, no one will be able to use the words "I" or "J" without being accused of anti-semitism.
I'm already thinking twice before going through the kosher aisle at Loblaws.
I hope the Stormfronters get around soon to thanking Conservatives (especially Kate McMillan) for trivialising anti-Jewish bigotry and racism.
Tell us again, why what could easily be explained as a misinterpretation, is somehow a vast conspiracy of mysterious and mighty importance?
Or do you just see conspiracy theories everywhere?
. . . and you can thank the CBC for institutionalizing it.
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