Date: Wednesday 15 January 2025
Time: 7 pm,
Location: JW3 Cinema
Tickets: £20
This fascinating documentary (82 minutes) made by Ofer Pinchasov in 2023 tells the story of the Israeli radio station Beit Shidir, which was aimed at the Arab world. With the establishment of the State of Israel and the influx of Arabic-speaking Jews, the radio station was a lifeline to Jews remaining in Arab countries for whom it was their only source of truthful news. But the station was also an active site for producing intelligence and political warfare against Arab countries in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
On the surface it broadcast news and songs in Arabic. In practice, the station was used for propaganda, psychological warfare, to change public opinion in Arab countries, and to activate agents through broadcast codes.
In the run-up to the Six-Day War, the broadcasts rattled the rulers of the Arab world. Competing radio stations named the station: ‘The Israel Broadcasting Corporation’s Propaganda Orchestra’.
