Sounds
of destruction and hate
Mika Palo 24-07-2006
Listening
to the Lebanon-Israel conflict on shortwave and Web radio
Listening to the Middle East "Good evening and shalom (peace) from
Jerusalem" is how Kol Israel closes its radio broadcast full of
terrible news from yet another Middle East war. Let us next tune our
receiver to the frequency of 7540 kHz.
What on earth are we hearing there in the midst of the typical noises
and fading of shortwave... "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful, hello and welcome to the Voice of the Islamic Republic of
Iran!"
Indeed, it is our friends from Tehran who are calling Europe through a
recently leased transmitter in Lithuania. Now then, just what might be
Iran's message to us Europeans? The news bulletin begins:
"The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
has called the Zionist regime's devastation of the Middle East region
concrete proof of the Satanic and cancer-like nature of the illegal
Zionist state of Israel..."
This is tough talk. It seems hell has come closer and peace, compassion
and mercy have all but disappeared from the Middle Eastern airwaves.
Listening to the protagonists
Radio news and propaganda from the crisis area's own media can be heard
around the world on shortwave and through the Web. Listening is
possible even with a small portable "world receiver".
I believe that the background to the new conflict and the differing
views held by its parties can be grasped more clearly by listening
directly to the English-language external service radio broadcasts from
Israel, Syria and Iran than through western television news coverage.
Also some Lebanese voices can be heard through Webcasts - however,
mostly in Arabic or French. The Hizbollah Movement's Web radio has no
longer been audible, but its allies Iran and Syria will certainly keep
beaming to the world the views of Israel's arch enemy.
Hizbollah logo The shocking television images of the Israeli
bombardments of Lebanon certainly appeal more to human emotions than
the "dry" and imageless radio news.
Nevertheless, Kol Israel, the external service of the Israeli public
service broadcaster IBA, has managed to bring some sad dramatics to its
news bulletins by reading lists of names of the victims of Hizbollah's
rocket attacks as well as informing about the funeral times and places
of each victim.
Furthermore, Kol Israel has been warning Israeli citizens not to accept
any suspicious offers of free trips abroad, since such offers might be
Hizbollah's next trick for kidnapping more Israelis! Otherwise, I feel
Kol Israel's news service has been quite balanced and varied - it has
openly told about the Lebanese civilian casualties caused by the Israel
Defense Forces.
Mixing news and propaganda
It would be extremely interesting to understand Hebrew in order to make
some sense of what is being said in the broadcasts by Galei Zahal, the
Israel Defense Forces Radio. A glimpse into the mind of Israel's far
right supporters and their "Re-engagement War" triumphalism is provided
by a former pirate station turned Web radio, Arutz Sheva.
By clicking on the station's Web page one can, for example, hear
Knesset member Aryeh Eldad recommending that Israel should attack Iran.
According to the vocabulary of Arutz Sheva journalists, Hamas and
Hizbollah fighters are "terrorists", while Kol Israel has been calling
them by the more neutral word "gunmen".
On the propaganda front, the state broadcasters of Iran and Syria have
been particularly busy. Instead of Israel they always speak about
"Occupied Palestine" or "the illegal Zionist regime", against which the
"heroic Hizbollah freedom fighters' movement" is battling.
The destruction caused by Hizbollah rocket attacks on Northern Israel
and the number of Israeli casualties have been exaggerated. Thus,
according to the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran's news bulletin
(16 July 2006), "in another Hizbollah rocket barrage on Haifa, the
railway station was completely destroyed" and the rockets also "hit the
oil refinery and the gas storage tanks".
Also, the "Zionist regime's air force" was claimed to have bombed a
hospital in South Lebanon on 16 July, "killing or injuring at least 90
patients and visitors". If these pieces of news were true, it is
strange why the media in the rest of the world did not even mention
them.
Storm clouds over the region Last but not least, the Iranian news
bulletins have been parroting Iran's radical president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's anti-semitistic views. In a recent speech the president
said: "The Zionists think that they are the victims of Hitler, but they
act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."
Indeed, the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran has openly announced
that the Iranian leadership's goal is the destruction and eradication
of the state of Israel. Unfortunately, nowadays listening to radio
broadcasts from the Middle East is not always a very cheerful hobby.
A selection of radio broadcasts recently monitored in Portugal on
shortwave and on the Web (all times UTC)
Country
|
Radio
|
Web
|
Iran
Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran
|
English at 1930-2030 on
6205, 7205, 7540 (via Lithuania) & 9925 kHz. |
http://english.irib.ir & http://www.irib.com
(English broadcast audible on
the Web at 0030-0130, 0130-0230, 1030-1130, 1130-1230, 1530-1630,
1930-2030 & 21.30-2230). |
Israel
Kol Israel
(the external service of the public service
broadcaster IBA):
|
News in English
0930-0945 on 15760 & 13680 kHz
1730-1745 on 9345, 11590 & 13675 kHz
1900-1925 on 9400, 11590 & 15640 kHz.
|
http://www.israelradio.org &
http://reka.iba.org.il |
Galei Zahal (Israel
Defense Forces Radio):
|
Hebrew daytime on 15785
kHz, nighttime 6973 kHz
|
http://glz.msn.co.il (only in Hebrew). |
Arutz Sheva
(former pirate station representing the far right of
Israeli politics): |
|
English Webcasting: http://www.israelnationalnews.com
|
Lebanon
Radio Orient, Beirut:
mainly in Arabic, also news in French and English
|
|
http://www.futuretvnetwork.com/RO/radioorient-www/news.htm
|
| Voice of Lebanon, Beirut: mainly
in Arabic, also news in French and
English. |
|
http://www.vdl.com.lb |
Syria
Damascus Radio:
|
English approx 2305-0005
& 0010-0105 on 9330 &
12085 kHz.
|
http://www.rtv.gov.sy (only in
Arabic on the Web). |
See also:
Shortwave radio
Voice of America
Broadcasting blues
|