Oxford University Press Introduces Changes in the Concise Oxford Dictionary Following Arab Pressure

The Board of Deputies of British Jews protested today to the Oxford University Press (OUP) about changes introduced in the Concise Oxford Dictionary following representations by an Arab pressure group. In a letter to the OUP, Lord Fisher, president of the Board of Deputies, said that it had departed from its” usual standards of scholarly subjectivity to yield to pro-Arab pressure groups.”

It was bad enough for commercial firms to surrender to the Arab league’s boycott blackmail but it was inexcusable for the Oxford University Press “to sully Britain’s hitherto unblemished record in the world of learning,” he wrote.

The changes to which Lord Fisher was referring concerned the words “Palestinian” and “Jerusalem.” In future editions of the dictionary, “Palestinian” will no longer be a person “seeking to displace Israelis from Palestine.” Instead, it will be defined as “native or inhabitant of Palestine: or, pertaining to, or connected with Palestine.”

Similarly, Jerusalem will no longer be described as “in Israel, holy city of Christians, Jews and Moslems.” It will now be defined simply as “holy city, west of the River Jordon.”

The alterations followed angry editorials in the Arab press, threats of boycott and claims by the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding that the definitions were biased toward the Jewish side of the conflict. Nonetheless, OUP has been quoted as saying the changes in the Concise Oxford Dictionary’s 1977 edition had “nothing to do with Middle East politics.” By introducing the changes, the Press was merely admitting that previously they had not been impartial, it said.

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY

Lord Fisher’s open letter to the publisher added: “I would have thought that the failure of your earlier editions to refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel when it has in fact been so these past three decades was sop enough to the Arab wish to eradicate the Jewish State. In describing a Palestinian as a national or inhabitant of Palestine you implicitly deny the existence of Israel, thereby adding insult to injury.”

Further protests about the changes are likely to be made by other pro-Israeli bodies and the Israel Embassy today said it was “dealing” with the matter.