What is it about?
This article traces the history of a covert British radio station which broadcast in Arabic at first from various locations in Palestine from 1941and later from Cyprus until 1956 when it was commandeered by the military at the time of the Suez crisis. It looks at the motivations and plans of those who founded the station. It assesses the contribution the station made to the development of broadcasting in the Middle East as many of its Arab staff went on the work on stations across the region.
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Why is it important?
The focus of this article is distinct from much of the existing literature in English on the station, in that it draws on the memoirs of both the British and Arab staff as well as official documents, refers to sources published originally in Arabic and is concerned with the contribution the station made to the cultural life of the region and the development of broadcasting.
Perspectives
What I found particularly interesting doing the research for this was the thinking behind the selection of staff both British and Arab. The British had pro Arab sensibilities by and large and the Arabs quite often had a record of opposing the British presence in Palestine. These choices would determine the career of the station from its beginnings in Jenin in 1941to its demise in Cyprus in 1956.
Anthony McNicholas
University of Westminster
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Sharq al-Adna, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, May 2020, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/18739865-20201000.
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