English Israeli Radio Gets the Axe

By Published On: June 10, 2007

IBA news.jpe

Listeners of Israel Broadcasting Authority’s English-language tv and radio news reacted with “protest, outrage and disbelief” that that the English program will be cut along with other foreign language broadcasts (excluding Arabic ones). The Jerusalem Post reports:

The planned closure “comes only a few months after Al-Jazeera’s 24/7 English programming became available for free through its Internet site,” noted another Post protester. “Without an English IBA broadcast, pro-Arab images and spin will monopolize the projection of local Mideast news into English-speaking countries. Israel cannot afford any more stupid PR moves like this.”

“What is the government of Israel thinking?” asked one correspondent from the US. “I listen to IBA on the Internet every single day. It’s the only way I get the real news from Israel. Not only that, the syndicated Middle East English broadcast Mosaic, on Link TV, features news from several Arab countries and broadcasts from Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. If IBA were not on with those broadcasts, only the Arab view would be presented.”

A reader in South Africa echoed the theme: “The move to cancel this station would only be seriously detrimental to those that are trying to fight Israel’s case abroad,” she wrote.

“It would be madness to abandon English broadcasts,” wrote one correspondent from the UK, citing a perceived anti-Israel bias of the BBC “influencing a whole UK generation… But then madness seems to be a common malady in today’s Israel.”

“Instead of shutting down we should be expanding this incredible resource,” concluded an Israeli writer. “If there are major problems, repair them. This is our face to the world.” . . .

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