South African radio station set up to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis
A new English-language FM radio station intended to promote Israeli-Palestinian dialogue has joined the crowded airwaves in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

RAM FM, operating from Ramallah in the West Bank, is backed by a South African media group previously involved in setting up a similar station before the end of the apartheid era in the 1980s to promote inter-racial harmony.

The station, an independent commercial venture, is to broadcast a mix of 20 news bulletins a day, chat shows, entertainment and pop music.

"Being from South Africa, where independence and freedom of speech were hard-won victories, we understand these things better than others... we are committed to getting both sides of the story," RAM FM news director Andrew Bolton said. Radio dialogue opens in Ramallah by Peter Feuilherade

Mark Alexander