It?s been a week of the Communications Ministry repeating itself, and not for the better. First off in the d?j? vu department, it was the government?s banning imports of Apple?s latest i-device (the iPhone 4S), just as it did with the iPad before that. Now, it?s radio stations that don?t fit the ministry?s criteria.
The station in question is the Israel-Palestinian Radio All for Peace, which broadcasts music and talk and, as its name implies, features a strong push for peace between the often-warring sides. As of this week, station has been shuttered. Right wing MK Danny Danon, who lobbied the communications ministry for the closure, claimed that Radio All for Peace incited against Israel.
Quoted in Ynet, he said: ?A radical leftist station that becomes an instrument of incitement must not be allowed to broadcast to the broader public.?
But that?s not the official line from the ministry. Throwing free trade and competition to the wind, the communications ministry wrote that Radio All For Peace?s broadcasts were ?economically damaging local radio franchises.? Yup, just like the ministry?s earlier ruling that importers shouldn?t be allowed to bring in the iPhone 4S until the cell phone operators get first crack.
Shutting down Radio All for Peace is the second of the government?s squashing of joint Israeli-Palestinian broadcast initiatives in recent years. The first was a police raid on the now-defunct RAM FM. In both cases, Jews and Arabs endeavored to work together on air, although RAM FM?s aim seemed to be bringing peace through sappy 90s ballads. The official reason for both closures was that the stations were operating illegally, with offices in Israel but unregulated transmitters in Ramallah.
For those of us who have been in Israel long enough, we wistfully remember Radio West, a station run by Anglos which broadcast in English and even had traffic and weather reports in our mama loshen. There were no Israeli-Palestinian politics involved when the government confiscated Radio West?s transmitters, just an attempt to ?make an example? of a pirate station operating without full credentials (with those na?ve Anglos serving as the easiest low hanging fruit).
Still, one might wonder why all this is even relevant these days. I almost never listen to terrestrial radio anymore; there?s so much great music on Internet-only stations, including at least two broadcasting 24 hours a day from Israel ? Rusty Mike Radio and Radio Free Nachlaot (full disclosure: I host a rock music show on the latter every Wednesday night from 7-9 PM).
But it?s not the delivery channel but the principle at play here. Any attempts to stifle co-existence attempts or economic competition should be brought to the public?s attention ? and protested whenever possible.
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