According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a settler is, “a person who arrives, especially from another country, to a new place in order to live there and use the land.” A settlement, according to vocabulary.com, is, “a colony or any small community of people.”
However, these definitions take on negative connotations when it pertains to Israel and Israelis. Even Israeli media have headlines such as, “Settlers arrested after deadly clash in Palestinian village.”
Various biblical texts refer to Israel as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” This description is in stark contrast to Mark Twain’s observations in 1867 that Israel (then called Palestine) was a desolate and barren country in both people and vegetation.
It was only after the start of the aliyah movement in the late 1800s, when many Jews joined their fellow Jews who had maintained a continuous presence in the Jewish homeland, did the land begin to bloom again with people and agriculture. The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” can be applied both in reality and metaphorically.
Jews meet the UN definition of indigenous people. Therefore, they are not “settlers,” and the places they live are not “settlements.” Which raises the rhetorical question: Why are there “Arab villages” but “Jewish settlements?”
Why are Jews settlers if they are indigenous people?
One unfortunate reason is a mistranslation of the Hebrew word Yishuv. The root of this word is shuv, to return. According to Wikipedia, the term Yishuv came into use in the 1880s to denote the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel, and became the word to describe the Jewish population of Israel prior to the establishment of the modern State in 1948.
The Hebrew word Yishuv translates to “community” in the form of towns, population, inhabitants, neighborhoods, villages, etc.
LET’S LOOK at another misuse of terms that carry with it political overtones: migrant vs illegal alien.
The definition of “migrant” is, “a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions.” An example is a “migrant farm worker.” Those workers migrate for work as the seasons and crops change. Importantly, it is implied that the individual is either a citizen or a foreign worker on a visa. While the definition of an “illegal alien” is “a foreign national who is living in a country without official authorization.”
Yet the current American administration, and mainstream US media, now call all those who enter the US illegally via their southern border, the nicer word “migrant” rather than the more negative term “illegal alien.” Sounds like “village” vs “settlement,” right?
Words have meaning. And choice of words has nuance.
As citizens of the State of Israel, we are Israelis. Period. You might be an Israeli-[fill in the blank], but if you’ve earned citizenship, then you are an Israeli, not a “settler.” Period.
While we may not be able to convince The New York Times, the Israeli media should start using other words such as town, neighborhood, or village, instead of the stigmatized word “settlement.” They should also use terms such as members, citizens, or Israelis instead of the derogatory and stigmatized word “settlers.”
We may not be able to elevate Israel in world opinion. But at the very least, we should speak the truth and be honest about our own identity.
The writer is a former NYC advertising & marketing executive and retired Rutgers University professor who lives in Israel. He is author of Hey Israel You’re Perfect. Now Change! (free download: https://bit.ly/455DIT2). Follow his blogs at: thetruthfulproject.blogspot.com. Twitter: @DavidsLevine