"The closing down of the 'Voice of Peace' radio station by the police is part of an overall offensive designed to no less than eliminate Israeli democracy, trample and silence anyone who opposes the policy of occupation and settlement. It follows the attack on Channel 10 and on other broadcasting editors and commentators, with the bills designed to change the composition of the Supreme Court and those intended to deny funding to Human Rights organizations" says Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc.

"It should be noted that the government has actively initiated the establishment of a special radio station for the settlers, known 'Galey Israel' ('Israel Waves'), a station with a clear right-wing political orientation. Gush Shalom had appealed to the Supreme Court against the establishment of this station, because it was a unilateral step that gives access to the airwaves to only one side of the political spectrum. The government fought tooth and nail and eventually managed to establish the settler radio station, which received a franchise as 'a regional station in Judea and Samaria' but whose broadcasts are actually received in most cities within Israel. A government with a minimal democratic consciousness would have taken itself the initiative to authorize the establishment of a peace-supporting radio station, operating under an official franchise by the State of Israel - just as the settlers got. The current government has decided to do the opposite, and close down a peace-supporting station operating in the only way left, using the frequency band kindly provided by the Palestinians who got it under the Oslo Accords".

Contact: Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Spokesperson 054-2340749