I don’t know how far back in time one can go to recall their earliest memories, but the scene still stands vividly before me as if it were yesterday. I was almost four years old at that time. It was June 1967. I didn’t grasp what was happening around me! Why the family gathered in the narrow corridor that separated the bedrooms in my grandmother’s house – on my father’s side, Um Hanna (Hanna’s mother). The corridor was dark and the windows in the bedrooms on either side overlooking the garden were all covered with black paper. Despite the visible confusion etched on their faces, they asked me to dance. They pretended to be joyful, though their expressions betrayed them. They clapped enthusiastically to encourage me to lift my hands in the air and sway. They sought to divert my attention from the turmoil outside, to make me feel safe as if life continued unabated. I didn’t hesitate; I quickly responded. I continued until the noise of the roaring planes interrupted me. Silence abruptly prevailed. I paused and repeatedly asked the same question in a naïve manner and a childlike voice: “What is that? What is that?” Everybody responded at the same time in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid, this is only thunder”. As I child that time, I was not aware still that in Palestine, where the four seasons are clear and distinguished by specific date, “thunder” could surprise you in “June”. It wasn’t until I grew older that I understood that.
Blowing Out My Fifth Birthday Candle with a Family Gathering/ April 1969
Only a few years later, I started to understand what is going on around me, particularly with listening to Feiruz, repeatedly singing on the Jordanian radio “Wa Salami Lakom Ya Ahl Al Ard Al Muhtallah”, (may peace be upon you, oh people of the occupied land, my heart is with you and may peace be upon you). The song titled, “Jisr Al-Awada”, ‘the Bridge of Return”, was played to mark the beginning and end of a program called “Rasae’l Shoq”, (Messages of Longing), hosted by Kawthar Al-Nashashibi. It was dedicated to Palestinians who resettled in the East Bank, (Jordan) following the setback of 1967 (Al-Naksa); a platform for the Palestinian refugees to send heartfelt messages and reassurances to their loved ones in the West Bank.
Palestinian refugees crossing the King Hussein Bridge from the West Bank to the East Bank in 1967
“Messages of Longing” was not much different from another program that the Israeli radio began broadcasting in Arabic in the late 1950s, titled “Salam Wa Tahiyya”, (Peace and Greetings), where another song by Fairouz “Jayebli salam asfour il janayen” (the garden sparrow brought me hello from my kind fellow) announced its start and end on the Israeli radio in Arabic language. It provided a space for Palestinians residing within the territories occupied in 1948 to transmit brief audio messages over Israeli airwaves to their loved ones and relatives in the West Bank. During this period, the West Bank remained under Jordanian administration until it has been occupied by Israel in 1967, that year that I describe as the “Year of Thunder”.
Remains of the King Hussein Bridge in 1967
A few years following the setback of 1967 (Al-Naksa), in the mid-1970s, I recall that some official Arabic TV stations started broadcasting news bulletins in other languages besides Arabic every evening which meant to be for the Israeli audience. Who else could they be for! The news bulletins were often translated literally from Arabic. It described how the Arabs defeated the enemy. It praised the Arab leaders for their wisdom and courage without the slightest consideration for the need to intelligently differentiate between two audiences: one representing the oppressor and the other, his victim.
Gloria Stewart, the most famous Arabic news presenter on Israeli television in the 1970s and 1980s
The Israeli broadcasting authority, unlike official Arab TV channels, swiftly launched dedicated radio and TV programs in Arabic aiming at influencing Palestinians and Arabs at large. The Arabic news bulletins differed significantly in tone and content from those aimed at Israeli audiences. Israeli media discourse in Arabic focused on instilling a sense of defeat among Palestinians, attributing it to their Arab leaders. It, simultaneously, tried to spread the idea of defeat and pushed for the idea of accepting coexistence with the “new occupier”. It often described the (PLO) as a terrorist organization and banned any communication with the Organization. In contrast, media aimed at the Israeli audience in Hebrew took a different approach, aiming to enhance confidence in Israeli leadership and emphasize the military superiority of the newly established Israeli entity over the Arabs.
A poster for an Egyptian movie. The Israeli TV one channel used to show one Egyptian or Syrian movie every Friday evening after the Naksa in 1967.
The Hebrew news bulletins on certain official Arabic TV channels were weak and were delivered in a threatening tone, while those broadcasted in Arabic on the one Israeli TV channel at that time repeatedly emphasized Arab defeat… a bitter reality that has taken us decades to realize.
Published on January 28, 2021
