Israel Amicam, former official of the Posts and Telegraph Department of the Palestine government, who waged a determined war with the government to force transmission of telegrams in Hebrew characters, today sent the first message in Hebrew characters over Palestine’s telegraph wires. The message was addressed to the Hebrew newspapers and expressed happiness over the historic occasion.
Amicam fought for years to have Hebrew included as a language in which to send wires. He even addressed a petition to the Mandates Commission of the League of Nations asking that body to order the Palestine government to accede to his demand.
The official objection to his plan was that it was not feasible to send messages in Hebrew characters over wires and that a heavy expenditure for special machinery would be necessary.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
