Israeli Police closes a Jerusalem Radio Station which calls for co-existence

Tuesday April 08, 2008 04:12 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Police closed on Monday Ram FM Radio station, which broadcasts in English and calls for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported.

The station plays western music and calls for bringing the Israelis and Palestinians together to hold dialogue.

Haaretz added that an official at the Israeli Communications Ministry stated that the Radio station was closed because it was broadcasting without a permit, and added that the airwaves of the Radio “interfere and endanger airport signals”.

Station officials said that they did not break the law and were acting accordingly.

Meanwhile the police took some staff members for questioning and confiscated some equipment used by the station before closing its studio.

The station is currently broadcasting in the West Bank via its 93.6 FM wave.

Haaretz reported that Ram FM is owned by a South African Jewish business man and was modeled after a station in South Africa which called for reconciliation after the end of the apartheid regime.

Haaretz also said that the listeners of Ram FM are not only Palestinians, but also settlers and foreign diplomats.

 Israeli sources claimed that there are dozens of radio stations that are considered pirate stations and are operating in the area. These stations, the sources added, are interfering with the regular radio broadcasts and the airport air traffic communications.

jerusalem | miscellaneous | news report saed at imemc dot org