The voice of Jerusalem

The idea of ​​creating the station was proposed to the mandate by Strickland, a specialist from the Show Commission . He proposed to "civilize" the villagers with the help of programs that teach modern methods of agriculture and integrated labor.

After 14 months of preparation from December 1934, the station was ready. On March 30, 1936 at 16:17, High Commissioner Arthur Grenfell Waukop arrived in Ramallah . He was awaited by the elders of the Jewish and Arab communities. The governor turned on the transmitter, and the director of credentials, William Halson, opened the program with the words “ It is Jerusalem calling ” (“ Jerusalem Says ”). After that, the same words were spoken by the Arab presenter of Kaabani, and then the Hebrew speaker Abadi proclaimed: “ Hello! Hello! Says Jerusalem! "After the governor’s speech, the military band of the second battalion played the march. After that, broadcasting continued from Jerusalem, from the studio located in the former Palace Hotel. Jewish songs were broadcast live by Brahi Zapira, a chamber orchestra concert with the soloist of the famous cellist Telma Elin , the “first lady of the Jewish theater” Khan Rovina recited verses - excerpts from Bialik ’s “Fire Scroll” and from “ Songs of Songs ”. Also broadcast in Arabic and direct connection to the BBC . The newspapers wrote the next day that audibility was good even in Cairo. ^[one]

The call sign “The Voice of Jerusalem” was a compromise to avoid using the word Israel on one side and Palestine on the other. At first, Jewish announcers proposed the “Voice of the Land of Israel” or “The Voice of Palestine - the Land of Israel ” (the official name of Israel in those years was “Palestine - ZI”, so as not to pronounce the full name of Israel), but met strong resistance from the Arab and English sides. Jewish announcers did not have the right to say in Hebrew "The Land of Israel", but only "ZI."

Most of the broadcasts were in the three official languages ​​of the mandate: English, Arabic and Hebrew. In addition, news broadcasts in other languages ​​were broadcast. Since the creation of the program in Hebrew, it lasted an hour a day, but later it was expanded to more than five hours. In the end, the channel developed a rich broadcasting network in all three languages.

In the mid-40s, the grid looked as follows: broadcasting began every day at 12:00 with news releases in English, Arabic and Hebrew. Exact time signals were transmitted at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 21:30. In addition, a daily news program was broadcast in English, two in Hebrew, and one each in Polish, Turkish, French and German. Four hours a day were devoted to broadcasting in Arabic. In addition, broadcasts were broadcast for schoolchildren and adolescents (“Listen and Understand”), for housewives, children, soldiers, concerts, programs at the request of students, and educational programs on a wide range of topics.

The station did not send reporters to gather news, except at pre-planned ceremonies such as the inauguration of the High Commissioner, folk dances and similar events. To broadcast news at the station, an organization called the “News Department of the Government Press Service” worked, which collected information from various news agencies . These messages were broadcast in ten minute news programs in different languages. Radio also used a group of people whose task was to listen to news on radio stations around the world. The station was proud that sometimes news was broadcast even earlier than the "older sister", BBC. So, for example, Stalin’s special messages, which were broadcast at Russian stations in the news, starting at a quarter of every round hour, were immediately broadcast, while the BBC was waiting for its news in 15 minutes. It was the first station, to the Allied station, to transmit the message of the fall of Rome received from the French-speaking station in Algeria .

After creating the “newsletter”, it was distributed among seven editions in seven languages, and those edited it in accordance with their needs. For example, the French editorial office paid particular attention to what was happening in France and North Africa, while the Hebrew editorial added a considerable amount of local news to the newsletter. This sometimes led to comic problems. For example, the station reported during World War II that “while moving forward, Soviet troops captured a German military train loaded to capacity with tanks and airports,” and another time that “US German fighters shot down thirty German planes yesterday in Italy and a lot of trucks. " ^[2]

The radio station published, starting July 13, 1943, the printed magazine Wheel, which was presented as the Journal of Peace and Voice of Jerusalem. For the first time he went out every two weeks, and starting November 30, 1944, he switched to a weekly release. The publisher was the Ministry of English Intelligence, with the help of its Jerusalem bureau. The Wheel printed station’s broadcast programs, notes on events in its various editions, training lecture notes from its programs, photographs that accompanied various news from around the world, as well as selections of comments, articles and notes translated into Hebrew from leading British newspapers “ The Daily Express ”and“ The Economist . ”

The Wheel was not limited to broadcasting news and events on the radio, and widely covered the country's cultural life, giving local artists a platform to present their works.

The station’s studios were located in the building of the former Palace Hotel, on Mamila Street (currently Agron), opposite the Mamila Pool in Jerusalem. The transmitting station was in Ramallah . Transmission went at a frequency of 668 kHz, a wavelength of 449 meters. The transmitter power ( Marconi ) was 20 kW. The training and operation plans for the station were created under the supervision of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC .

At the end of June 1939, the studios were transferred to a new, modern broadcasting building in Jerusalem, known as the “House of the Abyssinians ”, on Princess Melissenda’s alley, now Queen Helen Street, 21, where the Voice of Israel studios are now located.

In 1942, the second channel began broadcasting (PBS 2), at a frequency of 574 kHz, a wavelength of 522 meters, with the same transmitter power of 20 kW, and it has programs in English and Hebrew. Broadcasting of the first network (PBS 1) was moved to a frequency of 677 kHz, a wavelength of 443 meters, in order to improve reception in Europe. This channel broadcast in Arabic and English.

Broadcasts began during a period of great tension between Jews and Arabs, and the tension soon grew into the so-called events of 1936, or the Great Arab Revolt . However, the novelty was well received and the broadcast was not disrupted until August 2, 1939, when explosives were placed in the building in the operation of the Ezel group, known as the “explosion of the Government Broadcasting House”. Three bombs exploded at 17:20 in the technical supervision department and in the new studio. Announcer Maya Weisenberg and Arab Christian, engineer Adiv Effendi Mansour, were seriously injured and later died from their wounds. Due to the explosion in the technical supervision department, which was the link between the transmitter and the Jerusalem studio, broadcasts continued from the temporary studio in the transmitter building in Ramallah. Evening shows were also transferred there, and broadcasters and artists came from Jerusalem in armored vehicles.

May 17, 1944, the day of the fifth anniversary of the White Paper , the Ezel group, led by Eitan Livni, attacked a radio station in Ramallah. Their goal was to read on air the leaflet written by Menachem Begin . At that time, the British censor was constantly on duty at a station in Ramallah with a finger on the switch. Thus, there was no point in seizing the Jerusalem studio. The forces managed to stop broadcasting for two hours, but could not pass the leaflet because they did not capture the microphone.

The Voice of Jerusalem was an important element in the development of Jewish culture. Editors and announcers were local residents who created music programs and programs on science, culture and traditions. They were especially known at the radio drama station. If many language groups around the world received a cultural impetus as a result of regular radio broadcasts, in Hebrew broadcasting led to even greater effect. For the first time, conversational Hebrew was heard throughout the country and on a large number of topics. Broadcasts were an example of Hebrew speech, when there were still very few Hebrew speakers, and most Jews knew Hebrew, primarily as a written language.

In addition to the period of cooperation between the Jewish community ( Yishuv ) and the British during World War II, the station expressed a position of mandate, which was often hostile to the leadership of Yishuv. Broadcasts were perceived with disbelief, and many preferred to receive information on current events from underground radio stations of Jewish organizations. Toward the end of the mandate, Arab organizations also created clandestine stations.

In December 1947, the British government entrusted the Arab Legion with security in the broadcast building and studios on Melisende Street. As a result, Jewish workers left the area on December 14, 1947 ^[3] and, as far as is known, continued broadcasting from another place in the city.

At the same time, a radio studio was prepared in the Pioneer House and a small transmitter in the Schneller camp, abandoned by the British in March 1948. This was the first infrastructure of the "Israeli voice of Jerusalem." So at the time of the creation of the state, two small radio stations worked - the Israeli Voice of Jerusalem in Jerusalem and the Voice of Israel in Tel Aviv, which broadcast the declaration of independence on the country and the world ^[4] . The “Voice of Jerusalem” in Hebrew continued to operate for some time independently, due to the uncertainty regarding the status of Jerusalem ^[5] .

With the arrival of the Israeli authorities in the city, the infrastructure and specialists of the Voice of Jerusalem in all aspects of broadcasting — studios, broadcasters, program editors, music professionals, engineers and technicians — switched to Voice of Israel and Voice of Zion Diaspora . The new Israeli station even received a broadcast frequency of PBS 2 ^[6] . The transition went so smoothly that in 2006, the Voice of Israel celebrated its 70th anniversary, which is not entirely accurate, since the Voice of Israel became the official radio of Israel only on the day the state was proclaimed in 1948.

The infrastructure of the Ramallah station was transferred to Jordan , and it essentially continued broadcasting in English and Arabic from the studio and mandate transmitters in Ramallah. The name of the station was changed to “Arab Jerusalem Broadcast Station”. This station continued broadcasting in the wake of PBS 1. In Israel, it was referred to as Radio Ramallah.

• Easy Man, “The Voice of Israel from Jerusalem - The Country at the Microphone,” 2008
• Tamar Libes and Zohar Kampf, “Hello, Does Jerusalem Say ?: Restoration of Hebrew Speech on Mandate Radio (1936-1948),” Journal of the Department, No. 133, October 2009
• Tom Segev , “Buttercup Days, Israel during the Mandate,” Keter Publishing House, 1999

•   Media related to The Voice of Jerusalem at Wikimedia Commons
• First broadcast of the Voice of Jerusalem, excerpt , audio recording on YouTube , March 30, 1936
• The Voice of Jerusalem - Trudy Schwartz-Hiller (Hebrew) photographs . Haifa University (forties). Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• The history of radio in Israel . Jewish virtual library . Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• Yehuda Lapidot. The explosion in the Government Broadcasting House (Hebrew) . Daat site. Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• Z. David. Briefly: The Voice of Jerusalem (Hebrew) . The newspaper Davar (March 30, 1941). Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• T. Sabi. The voice of Jerusalem celebrates ten (Hebrew) . Al Amishmar newspaper (March 31, 1946). Date accessed July 8, 2016. continued ( Retrieved July 8, 2016 )
• Dr. Azrieli Karlibah. Ten years to the Voice of Jerusalem (Hebrew) . newspaper "Akofe" (April 5, 1946). Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• B. Ron. Ten years to the Voice of Jerusalem (Hebrew) . The newspaper Davar (August 30, 1946). Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• Yosef Lapid . The Jewish Voice of Jerusalem celebrates its birthday: “Wireless Distribution Service, Palestine (Israel)” was founded 25 years ago - and the Hebrew language was first heard on the radio (Hebrew) . Maariv newspaper (March 28, 1961). Date of treatment July 8, 2016.
• Hagai Hitron. Hello, Hello, Jerusalem says (Hebrew) (inaccessible link) . The newspaper Haaretz (February 25, 2008). Date of treatment July 8, 2016. Archived June 5, 2008.