The extraordinary refusal of the BBC to transmit a disaster appeal on UK TV and radio for the victims of the three-week Gaza massacres has not only infuriated the British government but many listeners and viewers around the world as well. The BBC says that it is acting to preserve its reputation for fairness and impartiality. It claims that carrying the joint appeal on behalf of 10 British charities would compromise this treasured standing.
Such an excuse is pure hogwash. The appalling suffering inflicted on the luckless captives of the Gaza ghetto has been made clear for the whole world to see, not least since the world’s media were finally allowed by the Israelis, on the screens of the BBC itself. The British, like people everywhere, are dumbfounded at such destruction and misery caused in Gaza by the Israelis.
Regardless of their views on what brought about the Israeli onslaught, they will want to reach into their pockets to contribute toward the alleviation of the suffering and help repair the devastation for tens of thousands of helpless Palestinians.
In a breath-taking error of judgment, the BBC has refused to facilitate this fund-raising by giving free airtime for the disaster relief appeal organizers, in the same way that it has done many times in the past for famines and conflicts in Africa and victims of natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami and the Kashmir earthquake.
It has also advanced the pathetic excuse that it cannot be sure that the funds donated will actually be distributed properly to the needy in Gaza. Suddenly, it does not trust reputable international charities to channel aid in the same way that they have managed in Darfur and eastern Congo. Why?
The irony is that in seeking, as it claims to defend its reputation for never appearing to be taking sides in a conflict, it has roused distinct suspicions that this is just what it has done. Even a leading UK socialist politician and former BBC journalist yesterday accused the BBC of caving in to Israeli pressure.
The organization, of course, denies this. But it can deny all it likes. In the eyes of many, this is just what seems to have happened. So the reputation for impartiality that the BBC says it so values has actually been damaged by this mean and foolish decision.
There are, however, two good consequences of this stupidity. The first is that other British broadcasters, who initially followed the BBC’s lead, have now decided, in the face of public outrage, to air the appeals. The second factor is that so great has been the publicity over the BBC’s action that millions of Britons have not only now found out about the disaster appeal’s initiative but are likely to boost their generosity, even in these straitened times.
This is because they understand what the BBC clearly does not, that suffering on this horrific scale simply cannot be ignored. Surely this is a moment of shame for one of the world’s leading broadcasters.
