Jerusalem Calling

On March 30, 1936, the Palestine Broadcasting Service began radio transmissions from Ramallah.

Staff were recruited for five hours[1] of daily broadcasts in three languages, English, Arabic, and Hebrew and training given by the BBC.

The Hebrew language transmissions were eventually called Kol Yerushalayim (The Voice of Jerusalem) after arguments with Arab leaders following the Jews original intention to call them 'Kol Eretz Israel' (The Voice of the Land of Israel).

In 1942, the transmissions were split into two stations – for English/Arabic (Radio al Quds) and English/Hebrew (Kol Yerushalayim).

The first channel, PBS 1, was moved slightly to 677 kHz (443 meters), which allowed it to be heard better in Europe.

Photo taken at the Palestine Broadcasting Service studio in Jerusalem, July 1947, after the performance of Piano Concerto (Schumann). Menahem Pressler stands to the right of microphone.