House arrest for Israeli peace activists By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 9, 5:37 PM ET

Israel put seven employees of a pro-peace radio station under house arrest Wednesday, two days after police raided the station's Jerusalem office and seized its transmission equipment, the station said.

The English-language station, RAM-FM, is headquartered in the West Bank city of Ramallah, with operations in Jerusalem. It plays Western music and tries to bring Israelis and Palestinians together through its broadcasts.

Israeli police raided RAM-FM's Jerusalem office Monday, saying the station was broadcasting without a license. Employees detained during the raid were jailed overnight and released Tuesday.

The station said the seven were placed under house arrest Wednesday for one week and forbidden to speak to anyone but their families. For the eight days after that, they'll be allowed to leave their homes, but won't be able to go to work or contact other station employees, news editor Xolani Gwala said.

The Israeli communications ministry said it is common procedure to put people involved in pirate broadcasts under house arrest. It said the actions taken against RAM-FM had nothing to do with the station's content, but with the fact that the station is operating illegally and potentially disrupting transmissions at Israel's international airport.

The station maintains it is operating legally over airwaves allocated by the Palestinian Authority in coordination with Israel.

The Foreign Press Association, which represents media covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, demanded the immediate freedom of the RAM-FM employees and deplored the gag order, saying "their arrests raise particular concern about the issue of freedom of expression in Israel."