Israeli broadcast policy denied Arabic-speaking Jews instruction in their own language.

Evidence

This occlusion of Arabic was not limited to Jews from the Maghreb but from the Mashrek as well. Kol Yisrael’s Arabic-language service was staffed by Iraqi Jews, one of whom was Shaul Bar-Haim, the divisions’ director. He lobbied in vain with his superiors to authorize immigrant programs in the Judeo-Iraqi dialect. Immigrants from Iraq and Yemen had to make do with broadcasts in simplified Hebrew (ivrit kalah). In the early 1950s, Kol Yisrael broadcast a daily “special program for immigrants from Yemen” that was entirely in Hebrew. Not only was the Hebrew difficult for the immigrants, but the meanings of words were explained via translation into a pan-Western idiom, e.g., ‘ikroni was said by the news reader to mean “printsipiyoni.” Middle Eastern Jews hungering for programming in Arabic had to turn to Kol Yisrael’s Arabic service, which was directed at Israel’s Arab population and had no nationalizing mission whatsoever—quite the opposite, as it was designed to maintain Arab cultural separation. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 697 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Like a weak carrier wave, the Arabic language was deemed unsuitable for transmitting the gospel of Zionist redemption. Although radio was thought to permeate the air, reaching the illiterate masses, the marginalization and dire poverty of the Oriental immigrants left many of them out of radio’s broadcast range. Finally, radio became a metaphor for not only the ingathering of the exiles but also the threats to Israel’s existence emanating from the Arab world. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 728 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Israeli state radio deliberately denied Arabic-language programming to Mizrahi Jewish immigrants — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 697; Mizrahi Jews listened to Arabic broadcasts despite the state withholding them — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 698; Israeli state radio privileged Yiddish while suppressing Arabic-language programming for Jews — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 699 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Israeli state radio deliberately denied Arabic-language programming to Mizrahi Jewish immigrants #corroborates (0.95) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 697
• Arabic radio failed to transmit Zionist ideology due to language and poverty barriers. #complicates (0.72) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 728