Unveiling the past: State Archives digitizes official British Mandate newspaper

Launched in 1920, the Gazette was utilized by the British Mandate for official publications until it was discontinued in 1948, following the establishment of the State of Israel.

 View of the "Palestine Gazette." (photo credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)
View of the "Palestine Gazette."
(photo credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)

The Israel State Archives published on Sunday the digital collection of the Palestine Gazette, the official newspaper for the British government during mandatory Palestine.

The collection was published to mark the uploading of the 50 millionth paper to the archive’s website.

 View of the ''Palestine Gazette.'' (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)
View of the ''Palestine Gazette.'' (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)

Launched in 1920, the Gazette was utilized by the British Mandate for official publications until it was discontinued in 1948, a few months following the establishment of the State of Israel.

 View of the ''Palestine Gazette'' July 1, 1921 issue in Hebrew.  (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)
View of the ''Palestine Gazette'' July 1, 1921 issue in Hebrew. (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)

The mandatory government used the Gazette to publish regulations, municipal laws, and government announcements in addition to information regarding sanitation and transportation, among other subjects.

The Gazette was published in English, Hebrew, and Arabic on an infrequent basis. However, those currently available to the public are in Hebrew and English.

 View of the ''Palestine Gazette'' January 1, 1921 issue in Hebrew.  (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)
View of the ''Palestine Gazette'' January 1, 1921 issue in Hebrew. (credit: ISRAEL STATE ARCHIVES)

Digitization efforts

According to the archives, the collection includes some 700 files and constitutes an important historical, legal, and genealogical source.

The archives noted the efforts to complete the digitization that have been ongoing for a decade, with 250 million papers digitized so far.