The extremist left-wing organization Peace Bloc (Gush Shalom) has filed a suit with the Supreme Court, demanding that the tender for a regional radio station in Judea and Samaria be withdrawn.
The petitioners claim that the tender is designed merely to give the Arutz-7 radio station a chance to get back on the air, "or other pirate stations." They further say that the tender was approved illegally by the army and "causes great harm to proper democratic procedures."
The deadline for the submission of applications for the tender is mid-November.
Gush Shalom states categorically that the "West Bank" [Judea and Samaria] is not within Israel's borders and is under "military occupation," and that therefore "the IDF is obligated first and foremost to be concerned for the welfare of the local residents, i.e., the Palestinians, and must have no interest in establishing a radio station designed only for Israeli citizens who settled in conquered territory."
Peace Bloc says the army was not authorized to expand the Second Channel Authority's purview and give a military order to enable the establishment of a radio station in Judea and Samaria.
The court suit is riddled with a hostile tone towards Arutz-7, which has not even submitted an application to run the new station. "If the tender allows Arutz-7 to participate," Peace Bloc states, "this is nothing less than giving a prize to law-breakers, in that their previous illegal experience gives them an advantage over others."
The Peace Bloc suit also has a political edge: "According to past experience, there is a great danger that if and when the government fulfills its obligation to dismantle the illegal settlement outposts, the 'settlers' regional radio station' is likely to be used as a gigantic public address system that will recruit 'hilltop youth' and other bullies to clash with the army."
Arutz-7's Response
Shulamit Melamed - co-founder, programming director and station manager of Arutz-7 - said in response, "Peace Bloc and its ilk enjoy the status quo, in which Army Radio and Voice of Israel are the predominant stations, and no one represents the right-wing and nationalist camp. I'm surprised they didn't submit this court suit earlier."
"In general," she said, "there is almost nothing good in this country that the Peace Bloc camp doesn't come out against. The fact that it receives funding from hostile political entities such as the European Union is already suspect."
Arutz-7 began broadcasting in 1988, but was forced to do so via an off-shore, ship-borne, costly transmitter because of the government's refusal to issue it a license. In October 2003, in light of two developments - the government decision to ban advertising on non-licensed stations, and the conviction of ten Arutz-7 directors and staff members of broadcasting without a license - the station stopped its radio broadcasts. Though it continued to broadcast via the internet, it explained that it had no choice but to cease its broadcasts of "Torah lessons and love of the People and the Land, with the participation of the leaders of Israel... accompany[ing] and aid[ing] in the development of Torah in Israel and settlement of the Land.