Palestine Broadcasting Service
The Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) was the state broadcaster in the area of the British League of Nations Mandate for Palestine . The program was produced in Jerusalem , the station was in Ramallah . PBS broadcast in Arabic , Hebrew and English from March 1936 until the end of the British mandate in 1948 .
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The structure was based on the model of the BBC . Part of the financing was taken over by the British government and partly from radio license fees .
The longest broadcasting time was given to the Arab program. On the one hand, the Palestinian Arabs were the largest population group in the Mandate area; on the other hand, it was assumed that the Jewish population would speak other languages and could also listen to radio stations from Europe.
The British Mandate Administration founded PBS for two reasons: to reduce the conflicts between the Arab and Jewish residents of the Mandate area and to improve the reputation of the British administration itself. For this reason, the news in the programs was heavily censored.
Speaking of the station's launch, High Commissioner and Governor General Arthur Grenfell Wauchope said:
“The Broadcasting Service in Palestine will not be concerned with politics. Its main object will be the spread of knowledge and culture. Nor, I can assure you, will the claims of religion be neglected. "
"The broadcasting service in Palestine will not deal with politics. Its main concern will be the dissemination of knowledge and culture. I can assure you that the claims of religion are not neglected either."
Sender identification
The broadcasts in English took place under "Jerusalem calling", those in Hebrew under "Kol Yerushalayim" (German voice of Jerusalem, Hebrew קול ירושלים) and the Arabic under the identifier "Iza'at al Quds" (German Radio Jerusalem, Arabic إذاعة القدس) instead. The Hebrew program was supposed to be called "Kol Eretz Israel" (The Voice of the Land of Israel), but this was rejected by both the Arabs and the British.
Start of transmission
After 14 months of preparation from December 1934, PBS began broadcasting on March 30, 1936. At 4:17 p.m. Governor General Wauchope turned on the station in Ramallah. The director of the post office in Mandate William Hudson uttered the first words: "It is Jerusalem calling". Then the Arabic moderator Kaabani spoke the same words, and then the Hebrew announcer Abadi announced: "Hello! Hello! Jerusalem speaks! "This was followed by the governor's speech and a march played by a military band. The broadcast then continued from Jerusalem. The studio was located in the former Palace Hotel. The Hebrew part of the broadcast consisted of Jewish songs, a chamber concert with the Cellist Thelma Yelin, actress Hanna Rovina recited verses from the "Scroll of Fire" by the poet Haim Nachman Bialik and from the "Song of Solomon" .
program
The program was aimed at two target groups in both parts of the population of Palestine: farmers and music lovers.
“There are thousands of farmers in this country who are striving to improve their methods of agriculture. I hope we shall find ways and means to help these farmers and assist them to increase the yield of the soil, improve the quality of their produce, and explain the advantages of various forms of cooperation.
There are thousands of people in Palestine who have a natural love of music, but who experience difficulty in finding the means whereby they may enjoy the many pleasures that music gives. The Broadcasting Service will endeavor to fill this need and stimulate musical life in Palestine, so that we may see both oriental and Western music grow in strength, side by side, each true to its own tradition. "
“There are thousands of farmers in this country striving to improve their farming practices. I hope that we will find ways and means to help these farmers and assist them in increasing the yield of the soil, improving the quality of their products and explaining the benefits of different forms of cooperation.
There are thousands of people in Palestine who have a natural love for music but struggle to find ways and means to enjoy the many joys that music offers. The radio will endeavor to satisfy this need and to stimulate musical life in Palestine so that we can see how both Oriental and Western music grow in strength side by side, each true to its own tradition. "
A lot of music, children's programs, talks and short educational programs were broadcast. The Arab broadcast hours dealt with a wide range of topics, from the great moments in Arab history to things like the history of orange production.
One program was called "The Arab Home" by Salwa Sa'id, a woman from Lebanon who came to Palestine after her marriage. Twelve programs were broadcast in the late 30s / early 40s. In addition to household tips, its content included the position of women in society and the struggle for social and national identity. PBS had its own orchestra that mainly played folk music. Famous Arab artists from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria performed. The programmers of the Hebrew programs initially had discussions about what kind of music to play. From the mid-30s onwards, classical music was increasingly broadcast. Classically trained musicians also came to Palestine from there because of the persecution of Jews in Europe. PBS played a major role not only in the distribution of local folk music, but also in the distribution of classical music. One of the highlights was the visit by the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini , who conducted the PBS orchestra. Radio plays were also broadcast.
The Hebrew program of the PBS is of particular importance for the spread of the spoken Hebrew language at a time when there were very few Hebrew speakers and Jews only knew the language as a written language.
In July 1939, PBS moved into a new studio in a house on Queen Melisande's Way (now Helení ha Malkáh). It was originally built for the royal family of Ethiopia.
PBS 2
Until 1942, the Palestine Broadcasting Service broadcast with an output of 20 kW on the frequency 668 kHz. With the introduction of the second PBS 2 channel, the frequency was changed to 667 kHz in order to improve reception in Europe. PBS 2 transmitted with 20 kW on the frequency 574 kHz. Thus from 1942 there were two separate programs for the languages Arabic / English (Radio al Quds ,, PBS 1) and Hebrew / English (Kol Yerushalayim, PBS 2).
Program scheme 1946
In a publication of the PBS of November 6, 1946 by the director Edwin Samuel and his deputy Rex Keating the following programs are announced:
PBS1
07.00-07.40 Arabic
07.45-08.00 English
11.00 English
12.00 English (only Sunday)
13.45-14.45 Arabic
17.00-18.15 English (Tuesday from 1715, Friday and Saturday from 1730)
18.15-19.30 Arabic
21.30-21.45 English
9.45-22.30 English entertainment program
PBS2
07.00-07.45 Hebrew
07.45-08.00 English
11.00-12.30 Hebrew (Saturday only)
11.00 English (Sunday-Friday)
12.00-12.30 Hebrew (Sunday only)
12.30-13.30 Hebrew
15.00-18.15 English
18.15-22.30 Hebrew
21.45-22.30 English alternative program
News broadcasts
In English 7.45am, 1.30pm, 9.30pm
In Arabic 07.15, 13.45, 18.45, 20.15, 21.25
In Hebrew 8:15 am, 1:15 pm, 6:45 pm, 8:15 pm, 9:25 pm
Program highlights
Sundays: 10.00-11.00 services from churches in Jerusalem
Friday: 11.00-12.15: Muslim prayers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (in Arabic)
Daily: 8:00 p.m.-8:15 p.m. Reading (in Hebrew) from the Old Testament
The end of the Palestine Broadcasting Service
Shortly before the end of the British mandate for Palestine on May 18, 1948, the mandate administration commissioned the Arab Legion to protect the broadcasting house in Queen Melisande's Way (today Helení ha Malkáh). As a result, the employees of the Hebrew program left the broadcasting house on December 14, 1947 and continued broadcasting from a location in the city center of Jerusalem . At the same time studios were being prepared in another location in Jerusalem. When the State of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, there were two Israeli broadcasters: the Voice of Jerusalem from Jerusalem and the Voice of Israel from Tel Aviv. Because of the uncertainty of the status of Jerusalem, the two stations operated independently of each other until 1950. After the arrival of the Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, the "Voice of Jerusalem" became the new Israeli broadcaster Voice of Israel , taking over the staff and infrastructure. He kept the frequency of PBS 2, but initially could not broadcast any programs on medium wave . During the Palestinian War, what was then Transjordan occupied the West Bank in which the broadcasting facilities in Ramallah were located. From there, the "Arab Jerusalem Broadcasting Station" program was broadcast in English and Arabic on the PBS 1 frequencies .
Web links
- The history of radio in Israel in the virtual Jewish library
- Youtube video with an excerpt from the first broadcast of the PBS (Hebrew)
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- ↑ a b "FROM THE ARCHIVES - A BRIEF HISTORY OF RADIO IN THE COUNTRY", Israelradio.org, Archived copy ( en ) Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved on August 11, 2020. (accessed May 2, 2012)
- ↑ Tamar dear, Zohar Kampf: “Hello! This is Jerusalem calling ”: The revival of spoken Hebrew on the Mandatory radio (1936–1948) . In: Journal of Israeli History . tape 29 , no. 2 , September 2010, ISSN 1353-1042 , p. 137–158 , doi : 10.1080 / 13531042.2010.508939 ( tandfonline.com [accessed August 11, 2020]).
- ↑ a b c d e The power of radio during British-mandated Palestine. RFI, March 30, 2019, accessed August 8, 2020 .
- ^ Andrea L. Stanton: Jerusalem Calling: The Birth of the Palestine Broadcasting Service. In: https://www.palestine-studies.org/ . Institute for Palestine Studies, 2012, accessed on August 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Nathan Dunevich: Hello! Hello! Jerusalem Calling . In: Radio News magazine . 1946.
- ^ Kol Israel - On the development of broadcasting in Israel. In: haGalil. March 6, 2016, accessed on August 10, 2020 (German).
- ↑ PBS transmission scheme. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original ; accessed on August 10, 2002 (English).
- ^ Publishing house of the organization of the members of the Haganah in Jerusalem (ed.): Ahagana in Jerusalem . second book. Jerusalem 1948, p. 30 .