Police raid Arutz-7
Friday December 31st 1999
Taken from today´s Arutz 7's daily e-mail news service:
| ARUTZ-7 POLICE RAID
BOOMERANGS
Close to two million shekels have already been pledged during Arutz-7's two-day telethon. Thousands of the station's listeners and internet users have phoned, faxed and e-mailed pledges to help overcome the costs of the damage caused by this week's police raid. Leading Israeli media personalities - even from the extreme left - have questioned the justification of the police behavior. Ha'aretz reporter Daniel Ben Simon is quoted by the paper saying that the State must provide the opportunity for any group that wishes to broadcast its views to do so - all the more so, he said, for a station that reflects the views of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. In an article published in today's Makor Rishon newspaper, left-wing Voice of Israel broadcaster Shelley Yechemovitch remarks that the raid is baffling in light of last May's 40-30 Knesset vote granting Arutz-7 and other stations a formal license. According to Yechemovitch, "there is great substance" to MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy's (NRP) claim of a connection between the raid and Arutz-7's firm opposition to a Golan giveaway. A spokesman from the "We Are on the Map" association (a grassroots organization providing free tours to thousands of busloads of Israeli citizens to the Golan, Judea, and Samaria) confirmed that the police raid on Arutz-7 is being viewed by a broad and angered public as an attempt to squash opposition to a Golan withdrawal. According to the group, Wednesday's planned rally against a Golan giveaway "will be the largest in Israeli history, uniting the political right, center, and veteran left, as well as religious, hareidim and secular." Slogans for the demonstration include: "100% of Israeli Arabs will vote to expel 100% of the Golan's Jews in the referendum," and "Next referendum: Judea & Samaria, then Jerusalem, then Jaffa & Haifa." |
Thursday December 30th 1999
| More
media
coverage of the Arutz-7 raid
When it rains,it pours (I'm talking media coverage here, we have forgotten what rain looks like). This comes from Hatzofeh - a religious right leaning newspaper, and the article should be treated as such:
The law against pirate radio stations was merely the excuse for the assault on Arutz 7. It is doubtful if the law permits such action, but if so, the law must be changed. The country is facing fateful decision on the future of Judea and Samaria and the Golan and the media is "brainwashing" the public, claiming that an agreement with Syria is a great achievement. Arutz 7 is standing at the gates against this organized campaign, warning the public of the dangers of withdrawing from the Golan and the failed process of negotiations. And precisely now the police raid Arutz 7. "This is a serious attempt to silence voices and clear the field for only one voice."
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Taken from the e-mail news service of Washington´s Israeli Embassy: ARUTZ 7 RAIDED FOR ILLEGAL OPERATION
The raid followed a general clampdown that began last May against 70 pirate stations, including religious, secular, Russian and Arab stations. Police said that Attorney General Elyakim Rubenstein authorized the raid. According to HA'ARETZ, sources at the Ministry of Justice said that the police had acted on their own and possess the authority to oppose pirate radio stations broadcasting in violation of the law.
According to MA'ARIV, the Prime Minister's Office refuted the allegation that Tuesday's raid was connected in any way to preparing for a struggle over the Golan Heights. |
Wednesday December 29th 1999
| Media
coverage of the Arutz-7 raid
All in all, the station was off the air for 2 minutes. The very fact that the station went off the air at all, has to show that there must be some truth in the claim that Arutz 7 broadcasts from land! If the broadcasts were coming from the ship, then there wouldn't have been any break in transmissions would they ?
All of Israels morning papers had articles and pictures of the raid. The Hebrew daily "Yediot Achronot" did not have the story in its main news section of the paper, but had a full two page article in their magazine section. This is what the Hebrew paper Maariv had to say in its editorial today .....
Add to this the countless phone - in and news programmes on the radio, one can say that the raid was covered at every angle.
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Taken from today´s Jerusalem Post:
Two hundred policemen raided the Arutz 7 studios in Beit El early yesterday morning, halting the illegal station's broadcasts from the site and confiscating equipment. Judea and Samaria police spokesman Rafi Yafe warned the site will be shut down if broadcasts resume. He said its future status will be left to the courts to decide. Yafe said police turned out in large numbers because they feared they would encounter resistance. Two settlers were detained for questioning and later released. Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein authorized the raid as part of the general clampdown that started last May and in response to a police request two months ago. The request cited several complaints received about the station. The State Attorney's Office investigated the claims and approved the request, a Justice Ministry official said. "The office found that there was no reason not to enforce the law against Arutz 7 just as it is enforced against others," said the official. The raid generated harsh criticism from settlers and politicians and threatened to create another coalition crisis just as the government appears to have averted the crisis with Shas. The Communications Ministry, in response to a request by the State Attorney's Office and police, had determined that Arutz 7 was indeed broadcasting from Beit El. Such pirate FM radio stations hamper air communications and thus endanger lives, the ministry said in a statement. As ministry officials began dismantling transmitters and confiscating equipment at the studios, hundreds of protesters from Beit El and surrounding communities gathered outside, preventing police from taking out additional equipment. Reporters at the scene were jeered by the protesters, who declared that the raid was an attempt by the government to "shut people up." Yehuda Freiman, in charge of the station's news desk, said telephones and generators were disconnected. The confiscations may hamper Arutz 7, he said, but the station will continue to broadcast from the ship Hatzvi in international waters. Hours after the raid, some of the confiscated equipment was returned as part of a compromise deal between the police and Arutz 7. Some of the heads of Arutz 7 are currently on trial in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for operating an illegal radio station. Since the May clampdown, police have raided 70 stations, said the Justice Ministry official. In one case, 16 employees of three illegal stations, Center Radio, Coastal Radio, and Radio Style, were convicted of operating pirate stations. The director of one of the stations was fined NIS 150,00 and the others NIS 15,000 each.
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Taken from today´s Arutz 7's daily e-mail news service: POLICE SUSPECTED OF "WALKING OFF" WITH ARUTZ-7 EQUIPMENT Although no computer or recording equipment was confiscated during yesterday's three-hour police raid on Arutz-7, the station's management today contacted the police in an effort to locate missing tools and technical supplies. A document obtained by Arutz-7 correspondent Kobi Sela indicates that yesterday's raid was initiated by the police and the State Attorney's office, and not the Communications Ministry, as police had claimed. The document states that the police break-in was "important and urgent, given the current court case against the management and broadcasters of Arutz-7." Yesterday's assault on Arutz-7 prompted Women in Green to protest at a lecture delivered by Att.-Gen. Elyakim Rubenstein at Jerusalem's Yakar Center. An additional protest was held outside of Rubenstein's residence. In his interview with Arutz-7 today, MK Yuli Edelstein refused to speculate as to what prompted yesterday's raid, but remarked: "What is important is how such actions are perceived: as an attempt to shut people's mouths prior to a Golan referendum." |
Tuesday
December
28th 1999
 Arutz-7
raided by police
10.14h Israeli Time Police have raided the studios / offices of Arutz 7 in Bet-El in the territories. A large crowd have gathered outside to protest. I am now listening to Arutz 7, and will update you when I hear anything new.
10.32h
At the moment Arutz 7 are playing music interspersed with jingles. Every now and again, they have a live report from the Bet-El studios. 11.16h
Arutz 7's lawyers are already in action, and are trying to get the search warrant cancelled,and all equipment / documents, returned to them as soon as possible. There are demonstrations outside Arutz 7's studios in Bet-El, and there have been scuffles with police. Arutz 7 have set up a temporary studio "somewhere else", and their news updates are being sent through the telephone together with broadcasts from the ship. 12.13h
BUT, on the Israel Radio news at 12, it was stated that although there WAS an agreement between the sides, Communication Ministry officials dismantled all equipment that was supected to be connected to landbased broadcasting. 14.05h
Let me remind readers that Internet broadcasts are NOT illegal, but these were the first items to be confiscated in the raid. The Arutz 7 staff resisted the police, and did not open the doors to the studios / offices, and police had to force their way in. Demonstrations started outside the building, and scuffles broke out between the police and demonstraters. There were several injuries, including broken arms. I will wait to see the news tonight, and see the newspapers tomorrow to get a more balanced view. I am sure that when the Arutz 7 Internet site gets back online, they will also have a lot to say... I have just heard that the site is back online. The address is http://www.a7.org. 14.21h Several demonstrations are being organized for this evening linked to this mornings raid on Arutz 7. The demonstrations will have the theme "Freedom of speech / police state ". The raid by the way was NOT ordered by the Communications Ministry, but by the Attorney Generals office.
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Hatzofeh,
in its second editorial, calls the raid on Arutz 7 "particularly
serious due to its timing." The editors write that the electronic
media is, in effect, acting in the service of the Left and the
establishment. This is due to the government's influence and the composition
of the journalists working in it who do not hide their own opinions.
Recently, a wave of radio stations expressing varied opinions to
relatively limited audiences has emerged, and the station that consistently
criticizes the government to a larger audience is Arutz 7.
Two
hundred police officers raided the Arutz 7 studios in Beit El on
Tuesday for illegally operating a radio
station on Israeli soil, THE JERUSALEM
POST reported. Police said that Arutz 7 was broadcasting from its
Beit El studio and not merely from a ship
off the coast of Israel as Arutz 7 staff
had claimed. According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, Police Commissioner
Yossi Sadbon said that Arutz 7's broadcasts were interfering with
aircraft operations and military radio channels.
During the three
hour search of the station, hundreds of Beit El residents and
individuals from surrounding settlements protested outside. The raid was
stopped to avert possible bloodshed after
Commander of the Judea and Samaria District
Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Aharonivitz, during a conversation with Beit El
Rabbi Zalman Melamed, called Minister of
Public Security Shlomo Ben-Ami. Arutz
7's station manager Ya'akov Katz called Tuesday's raid a foolish
attempt to silence the voice of the
nationalist camp in Israel because of showings
in recent polls regarding a possible withdrawal from the Golan
Heights. Knesset Member Shaul Yahalom
(NRP) told Prime Minister Ehud Barak that
his party would find it difficult to remain in the coalition if the
station's now legitimate broadcasts were
disrupted. MK Haim Druckman (NRP) advised
colleagues to vote against the state budget, labeling the raid an
anti-democratic scandal.
The police raid of Arutz 7
got wide media coverage yesterday on both of Israel´s
main news bulletins.
Pictures were shown of the police converging on the studios,
settlers demonstrating outside,police and Communications officials
dismantling broadcasting
equipment, Arutz 7 technicians accessing the damamge,
and trying to get the station back on the air as soon as possible.
One of the first targets
of the police was the computers that contained Arutz
7's Internet site and
broadcasts. This in itself is a very grave fact. Someone somewhere
knows the power of the
written word, and the quick time that a message can be
put on their site to inform the world what was going on. To remind
readers, it is not illegal to
broadcast through the Internet, so
the police action to try and confiscate their computers must be seen in
a very serious matter.
Ma'ariv comments on
the police and Communications Ministry raid on Arutz
7, on the basis of a court order at the instructions of Attorney-General
Elyakim Rubinstein. The editors note that Beit-El residents
demonstrated against the raid and claimed that no dismantling
order should be carried out against Arutz 7 and that the raid
was carried out in violation of a law passed by the Knesset, but reject
both claims. The fact that Arutz 7 has operated illegally for years
is an example of "taking the law into one's own hands and independent
self-judgement under the protection of a political lobby."
The Attorney-General has already noted that the Knesset law is
unacceptable and has appealed to the High Court of Justice to annul
it. The editors reject claims that the raid was illegal and politically
motivated and, regarding the former, urge Arutz 7's defenders
to closely examine the actual text of the law. The paper rejects
claims that the raid was part of an effort to handicap the Right
in the struggle over the Golan referendum, recall the station's "severe
incitement," during the struggle over the Oslo accords, and urge
the stations' directors to, "be more modest." The editors
declare that freedom of expression,
"must be done according to the rules
and the laws of the state."
Hundreds of police officers descended upon the offices and
recording studios of radio station Arutz Sheva (Channel Seven)
in Beit El yesterday, breaking down locked doors after station
personnel had refused to open them for the officers.
Personnel also claimed that the representative of the
Communications Ministry who was present for the raid yesterday
told them that it was the state attorney's office, not his
ministry, that had initiated the action.
Police raid Arutz 7
Normal programmes have been
suspended, and music is being played with updates
from Bet-El by the Arutz 7 news team. Knesset
Member Benny Elon (National Unity party - right wing) said that the
government is trying to interfere with freedom of speech, and is raiding
a perfectly legal station. Arutz 7
was made legal by the Knesset nine months
ago, he said, and because the station is broadcasting messages and information
about Israel leaving the Golan Heights (against withdrawl from the
Golan, which is in conflict to the governments policy to go into peace negotiations
with Syria), the police, on orders from the govenment, is trying to
close down, or at least interfere with any voice of opposition to the government
line.
According to an Arutz 7
report at 11am, 100 police have converged on the Arutz
7 offices / studios. They have a Search warrant to search the studios and
offices with the reason of ceasing pirate radio broadcasts from Arutz 7's
landbased studios in Bet-El in the territories. One
of the first items police confiscated were Arutz 7's computers that put
out their Internet broadcasts,
and they are now unable to broadcast through the Internet, or update
their site with news of the raid. If this IS so, then it really is a breach
of freedom of speech !
According to a report on
Arutz 7 at 12 o clock, the police and Communication
Ministry officials have left the studios and offices at Bet-El
without taking any broadcasting equipment. This after an agreement between
the head of the local police force and the Arutz 7 management.
Well after 3 hours,
the police raid has come to an end. No arrests were made,
but according to Arutz 7 (who in their 1.00 pm news programme, spent a whole
hour on the raid), a lot of equipment was confiscated, and a lot of damage
was done. Cables were cut, microphones were ripped from their sockets,
and computers were confiscated.
(11.33h) At this time,
hundreds of Bet El residents remain outside the Arutz-7 Radio studio in
Bet El, preventing police from completing their confiscation of the
station’s equipment.
Arutz-7 closing may
be linked to gov’t effort to increase support for Golan deal.
Some of the children
reported they were verbally threatened by police, but when they tried to
obtain the names of the abusive policepersons, they failed since many
removed their name tags as is commonly done, despite the law requiring
the tag remain in open view.
Hundreds
of policemen stormed Arutz-7's offices and studios in Beit El at
9:30 this morning, in an
attempt to shut down the broadcasts and confiscate the
station's equipment. For over two hours, the police wrenched out
soundboard consoles,
computers, and other equipment, leaving extensive damage
in their wake. They deposited these at the front entrance to the
station, but did not
attempt to transfer them to their waiting vans, as close
to 1,000 residents of Beit El and other communities had gathered on
the narrow street
outside. The crowd, including many dozens of students of the
nearby schools and yeshivot, intermittently sang, danced, and shouted
"Police State!"
Yaakov
(Ketzaleh) Katz, speaking on Arutz-7's newsmagazine today, said:
"Police Commander
Aharonovitch is a smart man, and after a short time he realized
that he was sorely misled. He saw that there are no transmitters
here - even though we are
allowed to have them here and use them - but he found
nothing of the sort... "I
think that what happened here today is a mark of shame for Prime
Minister Barak and for
Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, who claims to
be a man of democracy - but what happened here was not democracy, but
dictatorship, pure and
simple... In the end, with the help of G-d, they finally
left, and apologized, and it was agreed that they would say that
they had succeeded in
stopping the broadcasts - even though the broadcasts continued
throughout, because we simply phoned over to the ship. Their claim
that we are an illegal station is simply not true, especially after
the passing of the
Arutz-7 law in the Knesset, and that's why Beilin and Communications
Ministry officials are making intense efforts to pass a different
law..."
An
excerpt from Aharonovitch's hastily-called press conference: "The
warrant was issued at the request of the Communications Ministry, and
we were simply carrying
out this order. We have fulfilled our mission of stopping
the station's broadcasts, and we are therefore leaving."
Reporter: "But
listen, you can hear the broadcasts on the radio right now - the
antennas are not here, they are on the ship. Arutz-7 is still
broadcasting."
Aharonovitch: "Our
mission was to stop the broadcasts here in Beit El. If they
have other channels, this is not my problem." [The afternoon
newsmagazine was
broadcast from Beit El as usual, from the lone operative make-shift
studio, at 1 PM.]
MK
Rabbi Chaim Druckman (NRP) said, "The police raid on Arutz-7 is an
anti-democratic scandal,
an attempt to shut the mouths of the nationalist camp,
the likes of which is only seen in the darkest regimes." He
recommended that his
party, which reached a budget agreement with the government
only two days ago, vote against the budget in protest of the raid.
Other NRP Knesset Members said that the raid was an attempt to
silence those who object
to a withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
Atty.
Mordechai Haller: "There
is a general principle that when a legislature legalizes a certain
behavior, all legal
prosecution against this behavior is halted, and new proceedings
against it are certainly not begun. The Attorney-General simply
decides that it is not in the public interest to prosecute these
matters... In this case,
the legislature has passed a law legalizing Arutz-7;
the law has not gone into effect yet, though, such that this is a
classic case in which the
Attorney-General would normally exercise his discretion
not to prosecute... All the above concerns the radio. But the
internet department has
absolutely nothing to do with this. The publication
of internet news is no different than any other completely legal
behavior by Arutz-7 staff, such as preparing a cup of coffee. If an
Arutz-7 employee prepares
a cup of coffee, the police cannot come and arrest
him - just like they cannot do so for the equally-innocent act of
sending news over the
internet... If a judge gave a ruling to confiscate all
the equipment in a building used for allegedly illegal broadcasts, when
the police knew perfectly
well that some of the equipment is not used for broadcasts
at all, then that order should never have been given… I think
it's shocking that a
judge would give an order that was so sweeping... I think
the police probably misled the judge in that they did not give him
the full picture…"
Women
in Green announced a rally for this evening, in protest of the raid
on Arutz-7. "In an
attempt to assure approval by the voting public in the upcoming
referendum on whatever Golan Agreement is reached with Syria," the
organization announced,
"Prime Minister Barak ruthlessly moved this morning to
close down the only effective opposing media source to his policies,
Arutz-7 Radio... Arutz-7
has had free and open discussion, informing the public
of Barak's subservience to Clinton, and the many faults and failures
of his policies..."
The rally will be held at 7:30 PM opposite the Yakar educational
institute at 10 HaLamed-He St. in Jerusalem, where Atty.-Gen.
Elyakim Rubenstein is
scheduled to speak on "Law and Democracy." Readers
who would like to send their comments on today's events to various
public figures are
invited to find their fax numbers and e-mail addresses at