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August 30, 2013
Signage of the times
Road signs reveal Israel’s basic complexities.
DEBORAH RUBIN FIELDS
Are street signs meant to clarify? Most people would probably say yes. That is, the majority believes road signs are meant to assist in finding one’s way. In Israel, however, this is not always the case.
Israeli signage is a complex subject that raises numerous questions. First of all, it requires us to ask who should decide what goes on Israeli road signs. Should politicians, academicians, civil engineers or sign painters make the decisions? Moreover, what languages should appear on Israeli road signs? Should Hebrew and Arabic – both of which have legal standing as official languages – be used? Should English also be used to assist the many tourists who visit Israel? Should the English be a translation or just a transliteration of the Hebrew and/or the Arabic? What if a place is known by one name in Hebrew and by another name in Arabic – should signs then reflect how places might variously be known?
To ponder just one example: in Jerusalem, there is a road known to Hebrew speakers as Shechem Road and to Arabic speakers as Nablus Road. Should the English part of the Jerusalem street sign state Nablus Road (as posted on the English website of the Consulate General of the United States, Jerusalem) or should it read Shechem Road (the location’s biblical name) or even Derech Shechem (as printed on at least one local English-language hotel map)?
Furthermore, how good should the English translations be? Should qualified translators be hired to properly spell the translations from the Hebrew and Arabic or can municipal sign department personnel rely on electronic translators/dictionaries when preparing signs?
While this might sound incredible, when it comes to posting in English, Israeli signs sometimes display “made-up” English phrases. Here is one example. Where highways are under construction (and where in Israel, aren’t they?), you will often see yellow signs cautioning in English: “Trucks slowing from left.”
How did this multilingual mess begin? A British Mandate ordinance in the Palestine Mandate of 1922 (available online at avalon.law.yale.edu) authorized that signs be posted in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English. Following Israel’s statehood, however, there was a decision to not use English on signs. This most likely reflected both the young state’s attempt to revive Hebrew as a spoken and written language and the bitter after-taste of British rule.
Over the years, however, thoughts on sovereignty have changed. Israeli municipal and national governments have accorded the English language a semi-official status. This measure, in turn, probably indicates Israel’s self-realization that it is a nation among nations and that English is useful as a lingua franca. English is important in matters of business, tourism, politics, etc.
In 2009, however, Israel’s Ministry of Transport took matters into its own hands. It single-handedly changed the rules and announced that signs on all major roads, including in east Jerusalem and in parts of Judea and Samaria, would be changed. As a result, no matter how the place might be known to Arabic speakers or what might be printed in your map or guide book, the English and Arabic place names will eventually be eliminated – to be replaced with straight transliterations of the Hebrew name. It should be emphasized that since road signs are only gradually being changed, sadly, the signage situation has become a complete hodgepodge.
Perhaps more significant, however, this state of affairs can have negative social and political implications, especially for Israel’s diverse population. The ministry’s decision is read as an official statement about how Israel responds to those whose first language is not Hebrew – and, in that, seems to deny Israeli minorities’ claims to their own geographical reference points. In doing so, Israeli signs subtly undermine the varied histories of Israel’s residents.
If you think that simple road signs might provide one small point of reference in this tumultuous part of the world, think again. The most helpful information might just come from a neighborhood resident who tells the visitor, “Turn left where Moshe’s makolet [small neighborhood grocery] used to be.”
Deborah Rubin Fields, ACSW, is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams.
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