Tomorrow (Wed. Jan 16), Supreme Court judges Fogelman, Hayut and Naor will hear Gush Shalom’s appeal against creation of a settler radio. “The result of this tender is predetermined – a legitimation of the inciting Arutz 7 pirate radio.

We do not want to stop the settlers’ mouths but to ensure that their opponents be given an equal opportunity. If there is a settler radio station, there must also be an anti-settler, pro-peace station.“

Wednesday January 16, at 11.30 am, Supreme Court Judges Fogelman, Hayut and Naor will hear the appeal by Gush Shalom (The Israeli Peace Bloc), lodged via advocates Gabi Lasky and Smadar Ben Nathan, against the creation of a “regional radio” for Israeli settlers on the West Bank. The appeal was logded last October after the Ministry of Communications and the Second Broadcasting Network issued tenders for the creation of such a radio station.

In its answering affidavit, the Second Network claimed that the intended radio station is needed “in order to cater to the needs of 300,000 Israeli citizens” (i.e. the settlers) and that Gush Shalom are “spoilers” who try to gag political opponents. In reaction, the Gush Shalom members say that they are not out to gag anybody – not even settlers who had invaded and settled in Occupied Territory in order to cause its annexation to Israel without granting even the most basic rights to its Palestinian inhabitants. All we want is for the political debate in Israel to be conducted on a level playing field.

Hitherto, the legal and administrative practice in Israel did not allow the creation of radio or TV stations identified with a specific politcal opinion, and all electronic media was bound by charters requiring them to keep political neutrality and maintain a careful balance between the political left and Right. The station whose creation is now mooted would stand in complete and flagrant violation of that rule. A station whose declared purpose is to cater to the settlers would by definition be a station supporting and promoting the settler enterprise. If it was decided to change the fundamental principles on which broadcasting in Israel was lways based, this should be done openly and officially, not through the backdoor of “a regional station” – and it must be done on the basis of equality.

If a radio station is created to support and promote the settlement enterprise, an equal and identical opportunity must also be given to the opponets of settlements and supporters of peace. Hitherto, the settlement opponents – a strong and numerous section of the Israeli citizen body – never lodged a request for a radio station specifically expressing their views and opinions as under the legal situation as it existed until now, such a request would have been doomed to be rejected out of hand. If the government has determined to change that legal situation, it must open the possibility of creating political radio stations to all political camps and shades of opinion, without discrimination, and facilitate also the creation of a radio station opposing the settlements and calling for them to be dismantled.

The Gush Shalom appeal also argues that the Military Givernment’s decree proving the legal basis for the radio tenders was issued without legal authorisation and while severely damaging basic democratic procedures. In this decree, the army purported to “delegate authority” to the Minister of Communications” – while the fundamental basis of democracy is that it is the elected civil government which delegates authority to the military, never vice versa.

“From the state’s response we learned that only one company has presented itself to the radio tender – which increases our suspicion that the result of the tenders is predermined and that the winner’s identity was known in advance to all concerned. The state claims that this intended winner of the radio concession “has not been been previously involved in operating a pirate radio station” – i.e., that it is not the operators of the infamous “Arutz 7” pirate radio, which played a central role in the campaign of incitement against Prime Minister Rabin during the run-up to his assassination in 1995.

This official denial is highly suspicious. Since Arutz 7 was closed down by court order, its operators repeatedly declared their intention to get back on the air, established a powerful parliamentary lobby for that purpose, and maintained regular broadcasts via the internet, where they manifest enthusiastic support for any attack on Palesatinians and call for continuation and extension of the settlement project. It would be very strange to find that they forego this golden opportunity to resume broadcasting, and there should be a thorough investigation into the identity of the intended winner. The settlers are expert in various forms of camouflage, with so-called international corporations often acquiring Palestinian land. This is likely to be a similar strategem, with the winner of the tender as soon as he acquires the permit hiring the whole Arutz-7 crew and maybe also entering the known and well-established Arutz-7 studios of the Beit-El settlement. The same old lady, in a different dress.

In any case, whoever it will be who will operate the settler radio, also if it will broadcast under another name, if not the same right to voice opinions will also be given to the other political camp in the Israeli spectrum - that of the peace seekers - it would constitute a grave violation of Israeli democracy, says Adam Keller, spokesperson of Gush Shalom.

For details: Adam Keller adam@gush-shalom.org