Supreme Court accepts petition against ban on Arabic radio station “Ashams” from broadcasting on Yom Kippur

(Haifa, Israel) On Friday 3 October, 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court accepted a petition filed by Adalah and the I’lam Media Center on behalf of Radio Ashams and in their own names, challenging the prohibition on Arabic radio station Ashams from broadcasting on Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), as it was last year. As a result, the radio station was allowed to broadcast during the holiday.

The petition Radio Ashams is the only Arabic regional radio station in Israel and most of its listeners are Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, who are not Jewish and who do not commemorate Yom Kippur. The Court accepted the petition after ordering the Second Television and Radio Authority (STRA) to provide an immediate response to the petition by 3 October.

In February 2014, the I'lam Media Center met with the STRA's legal advisor, and it was decided that a legal team would work to cancel Rule 3(b) of the STRA regulations, which require all regional radio stations, including Radio Ashams, to stop broadcasting on Yom Kippur. Last year Radio Ashams, also approached the STRA to cancel the rule, but it kept delaying its decision and responded only on 1 October 2014. The STRA stated that the regulations have not been changed and therefore they must be implemented. 

The petitioners argued that the ban on broadcasting on Yom Kippur violates the fundamental rights, both of the radio station owner and of station’s listeners. It is impermissible to impose Jewish holidays on the Arab religious communities, as it violates their freedom of expression and the dignity. This year was especially crucial, as Yom Kippur fell on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, which made broadcasting for Radio Ashams even more important.

In the petition, Adalah Attorney Nadeem Shehadeh and I'lam Media Center Attorney Alaa Abdullah emphasized that the Arabic language broadcasts do not affect the sentiments of the Israeli Jewish community or interfere with their holiday, as they do not listen to this radio station.

Further, the ban violates the rights of the radio station owner and his staff to freedom of occupation, as it also imposes a holiday on them, and carries a sense of "contempt" or disregard from the Israeli establishment, as it does not take into account their specific needs.

Notably, the failure to obey the ban and to continue to broadcast on Yom Kippur could lead to the imposition of a heavy fine on the radio station.

Case citation: HCJ 6587/14 Radio Ashams v. Minister of Communication (decision made 3 October 2014)