December 5, 2012
Buenos Aires Jewish radio station marks anniversary
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A Buenos Aires radio station that launched its 24-hour broadcasts in the wake of the Israeli embassy bombing there will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a street party and klezmer marathon.
Celebrity participants also are expected to join Radio Jai on the air Sunday for the celebration.
The party also will include recognition of Argentinian artists who have developed successful careers in Israel, such as television producer Yair Dori, soap opera stars Andrea del Boca, Gustavo Bermudez, Natalia Oreiro and Facundo Arana, and musicians Marcela Morelo, Mercedes Sosa, Leon Gieco and Charly Garcia.
Through the radio's website, thousands of listeners receive the station's programming. An email newsletter is sent daily to 40,000 subscribers around the world.
"That allows the Spanish-speaking Jewish world to listen to the radio and find out what is going on in the Jewish community worldwide, particularly in Israel and the Middle East,” Miguel Steuerman, the founder and CEO of the station, told JTA.
The klezmer marathon will take place along the main avenue of Palermo Park and end in a large public concert by popular Argentinian signers including Alejandro Lerner, Leon Gieco and Palito Ortega.
Radio Jai listeners are located in Argentina, Israel, Chile, the United States, Mexico and Spain, as well as Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela. According to Steuerman, 70 percent of the listeners are not Jewish.
The anniversary party is actually a little bit belated: Radio Jai started broadcasting on Sept. 1, 1992, nearly six months after the terrorist bombing of the embassy that killed 29. The attack remains unsolved.
“After that attack, I felt that it was very important to have a strong Jewish voice in this part of the world,” said Steuerman, who immigrated to Argentina in 1987 from Chile.
