Press syndicate condemns suspension of radio channel

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) in a statement Sunday condemned the Israeli police suspension of the Voice of Peace radio channel broadcast in East Jerusalem, considering this act a violation of Palestinian journalists’ rights. PJS said the Israeli police suspended Voice of Peace channel last Thursday, after summoning its financial manager, Musa Raz, and interrogating him for several hours before finally informing him to stop the broadcast. The Israeli police threatened that any delay in executing the order will result in raiding the radio station, confiscating its equipment, shutting down its studios and arresting those in charge, PJS said. Voice of Palestine has been the target of a wide right-wing Israeli campaign, headed by Likud Knesset Member, Danny Dannon, who claimed that the radio has instigated against settlers and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank before the Palestinian bid to the United Nations. The channel, which obtained permits from the Palestinian Authority, was first founded in 2004 in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem and broadcasts via transmitters in Ramallah. PJS saluted Palestinian journalists who stand in the face of the Israeli policy that aims to intimidate them, and called on them to continue their struggle during these difficult times.