The new Voice of Peace

Many articles and comments have been written about Doug Wood's project to bring back the Voice of Peace through the Internet. Some have been good, others not so.

Some say the return of the VOP with the old jingles etc and some of the original presenters is just living in the past. I spoke to someone recently, who looked after Abie Nathan for years, and he preferred that the VOP just be left in the past - or as they say in Hebrew, Haya Tov, vetov sheh haya - or, it was good, and good that is was. In other words, let sleeping dogs lie.

Others say, and I tend to agree with them, that there is nothing to listen to on Israeli radio these days, so reviving the VOP can't be a bad thing. The only minus at the moment is that it is on the Internet, and cannot be heard on a "normal" or car radio. But technology is changing fast, and soon we will all be able to buy Internet radios for a decent price (current price for an Internet radio here in Israel is about NIS800 or about $200).

At the moment the VOP is testing on www.thevoiceofpeace.co.il.

I hope that in the spirit of the original VOP, both new/current songs as well as oldies will be played. There are plenty of "gold" stations around on the Internet. Also, at the beginning at least, all the links will be recorded, so there will be no time checks or very little live.

Love it or hate it, I for one commend Doug and his team for bringing back English language radio to Israel - if for the moment, only through the Internet. I for one will be waiting for the launch in a couple of weeks time.