BBC refuses to air Gaza Appeal
Donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal for Complain to the BBC here Phone 03700 100 222 and press 3 to be put through to the complaints department 24th Jan 2009 Once considered by some to be a beacon of impartiality among a sea of commercial television broadcasters overly-concerned about the interests of their sponsors, the BBC has faced a barrage of criticism for its embarrassingly one-sided pro-Israel coverage of the three-week massacre of upwards of 1300 Palestinian men, women, and children. Although the mainstream media, in general, were ALL very disciplined in their portrayal of what the UN General Assembly President, Miguel D’escoto Brockmann, called “genocide” as something close to a war between equals, the BBC stood out as being especially well-behaved (incidentally, they also failed to report the “genocide” statement or the description of Israel as an “Apartheid” state by the president of arguably the most representative body on the planet). According to the BBC’s Q&A: Gaza conflict, the reason Hamas fires missiles into Israel, is because it “regards the whole of historic Palestine as Islamic land and therefore views the state of Israel as an occupier, though it has offered a 10-year "truce" if Israel withdraws to the lines held before the war of 1967.” No mention then of the fact that according to international law, Israel IS “an occupier” of both the West Bank and Gaza (Israeli military and settlers left this tiny strip of land in 2005 but maintained full control of all borders including sea and airspace; consequently they are still considered to occupy Gaza). This could well have been written by the Israeli PR core: they manage to reduce those who resist a brutal 40-year occupation into a bunch of religious fanatics who care not about the suffering of an entire people; all they desire is for all of No wonder confusion is so prevalent on this issue. The BBC is culpable in maintaining a level of ignorance that meant that “only 10 percent of the groups of British students interviewed [by the Glasgow University Media Group] in 2001 and 2002 knew that it was As Jean Shaoul puts it, this is extremely significant because “poor and biased coverage plays a crucial role in preventing an informed public debate about how the conflict might be resolved.” But the BBC has reached a new low. As the Guardian reports, The BBC has refused to broadcast a national humanitarian appeal for Gaza, leaving aid agencies with a potential shortfall of millions of pounds in donations. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group for 13 aid charities, launched its appeal yesterday saying the devastation in But the BBC made a rare breach of an agreement dating to 1963, saying it would not give free airtime to the appeal. Other broadcasters followed suit. Previously, broadcasters had agreed on the video and script to be used with the DEC, to be shown after primetime news bulletins. The BBC, which has been criticised in the past over alleged bias in its coverage of the Middle East, said it did not want to risk public confidence in its impartiality. A BBC spokesperson said: "The decision was made because of question marks about the delivery of aid in a volatile situation and also to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of [a] news story." The DEC's chief executive, Brendan Gormley, said: "We are totally apolitical ... this appeal is a response to humanitarian principles. The BBC seems to be confusing impartiality with equal airtime." DEC appeals have recently raised £10m for the An ITV spokesman said the broadcasters, after assessing the DEC's needs, had been unable "to reach a consensus necessary for an appeal". Sky said: "By convention, if all broadcasters do not carry the appeal, then none do. The decision was effectively made for us." The BBC had earlier responded to criticism with a report entitled, “BBC defends Gaza appeal decision”. It is perhaps unfortunate that this report includes a link to a uncannily similar title written 12 hours later: “Israel defends use of phosphorus” Donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal for Complain to the BBC here Phone the BBC on 03700 100 222; press 3 to be put through to the complaints department