Voice of Peace

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Voice of Peace
Kol HaShalom (קול השלום)

Broadcast area	East of the Mediterranean Sea
Frequency	1539 kHz AM (although it would announce it as 1540 kHz) (1973-1993) 100.0M Hz FM (1980-1993)
Programming
Format	Pop / Variety
Ownership
Owner	Abie Nathan
History
First air date	19 May 1973 - November 1993

Voice of Peace

Broadcast area	Online streaming from Tel Aviv, Israel
Programming
Format	Pop / Variety / Oldies
History
First air date	November 7, 2009-present 2014-present - The Voice of Peace Classics (2nd channel)
Links
Website	http://www.thevoiceofpeace.co.il/

Voice of Peace (Hebrew: קול השלום, Kol HaShalom) was an offshore radio station that broadcast in the Middle East for 20 years from the former Dutch cargo vessel MV Peace (formally MV Cito), anchored off the Israeli coast in the Eastern Mediterranean. Founded by Abie Nathan and the New York-based Peace Ship Foundation, the station broadcast almost continuously between 19 May 1973 and November 1993. The station was relaunched but solely as an online station in August 2009. A second online channel called The Voice of Peace Classics was added in 2014.

History

The aim of the Voice of Peace was to communicate peaceful co-existence to the volatile

Voice of Peace was Israel's first offshore pop station and the first commercially funded private operation. The station's American

Notable personalities were involved in broadcasting. The Carpenters, Johnny Mathis and others recorded messages of peace. John and Yoko Lennon signed hundreds of peace posters which Abie Nathan could sell in hard times. During the mid-1970s, the station boasted more than 20 million listeners from the Middle East to southern Europe and Turkey, thanks to the format used by professional broadcasters led by Keith Ashton.^{[citation needed]}

Transmitters

The original

Abie Nathan had a stroke in 1997 that left him partially paralyzed. He died in Tel Aviv on 27 August 2008 at 81.^[1] On 10 June 2007 Tel Aviv-Yafo decided to post a plaque on the Tel Aviv boardwalk at Gordon Beach, opposite where the Peace Ship had been anchored. This memorial plays recordings of Voice Of Peace, including the station callsign in Nathan's voice and an explanation in Hebrew and English.

Israeli radio station Radius 100 (on VoP's FM frequency) airs weekday tribute programs. The first hour is music in the format of Twilight Time. The second plays hits mostly from the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Presenters include Gil Katzir, Mike Brand, and Tim Shepherd.

In 2003, NMC Music released a CD called the Voice of Peace, featuring songs and jingles from the station. As the Sun Sets, a film about Abie Nathan, soon followed, directed by Eytan Harris. Double CD compilations followed in 2007 and 2008.

Relaunch

In August 2009, The Voice of Peace launched online streaming at 128 kbit/s. It returned on Saturday November 7, 2009 at 12.00 UTC at http://www.thevoiceofPeace.co.il

In 2014, a second channel was added besides the mainstream Voice of Peace. While the main channel continues to offer a mix of contemporary music and oldies, the new 24-hour channel called The Voice of Peace Classic concentrates exclusively on oldies and classic hit songs.

The station had to shut down its broadcasts on 18 July 2020 as maintaining the station had become very difficult because of the COVID-19 epidemic adding that "we will do everything possible to come back to you in the near future." as the announcement read.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Arutz Sheva
• Pirate Radio

References