A single definite article in Resolution 242 shaped withdrawal interpretation for decades.
Evidence
For the ofļ¬cial translator, elegance is of no signiļ¬cance. What matters is accuracy. But even today, startling discrepancies may sometimes arise. Thus, for example, Article (i) of Security Council Resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 requires the āwithdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conļ¬ictā. The omission of the deļ¬nite article before āterritoriesā has usually been taken to mean that the required withdrawal relates to some but not necĀ essarily all of the territories in question. This ļ¬ne but crucial distinction is lost in both the French and Russian versions. The French text includes the deļ¬nite article, since French grammar requires it. The Russian texts omits the deļ¬nite article, since in Russian none exists. The Arabic translation, for both stylistic and political reasons, includes the article, but at that time Arabic was not an ofļ¬cial UN language. ā Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 200 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: UN Resolution 242ās ambiguous wording on withdrawal hinged on a grammar-encoded article absence ā Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpretingā¦, 200
Broader Connections
- UN Resolution 242ās ambiguous wording on withdrawal hinged on a grammar-encoded article absence
#expands(0.95) ā Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 200