London – The government urged the BBC on Saturday to drop its refusal to broadcast a humanitarian appeal for victims of the war in Gaza.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The BBC said the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a coalition of 13 aid agencies, would compromise the impartiality of its coverage.
“The most important thing we can do for the people who are suffering is carrying on reporting it and we’ve done exemplary work in reporting the suffering of the people of Gaza,” Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson said.
“If we lose the trust of the audience by appearing…to support one side rather than another, then we will have lost it for the charities themselves as well as everyone else.”
Broadcasters ITV and Channel 4 said they would show it, but satellite broadcaster Sky said it had yet to reach a formal decision.
But most attention focussed on the stance of the BBC, which as the national public broadcaster is funded by a licence fee paid by owners of TV sets.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said the British public could distinguish between support for humanitarian aid and perceived partiality in a conflict.
“I really struggle to see in the face of the immense human suffering of people in Gaza at the moment that this is in any way a credible argument,” he said.
The BBC has argued that aid access to Gaza is in any case restricted, but Alexander said supplies and personnel had managed to get through on Friday.
“I do not think the fact that limited access is available at the moment is itself an adequate reason not to broadcast an appeal to try and address what is still a dire humanitarian situation,” Alexander told BBC radio.
Politicians and aid groups have written to the BBC to try to persuade it to reconsider its decision, while hundreds of people demonstrated outside one of the broadcaster’s London television centres.
Who are they kidding? Balanced?
If I was unabashedly Anti-Semitic like the BBC, I for one would try to take in extra ad revenue
Good for the BBC! I’m impressed.
I am shocked. The BBC hates us even more than CNN. I don’t trust them. What are they REALLY up to?
for them to even considering not pandering to the arabs is a nice thing
…If it (the current state of affairs with the BBC) weren’t so tragic, it would be comical. The bbc, who don’t fail an opportunity to show things in the wrong perspective and who are so demonstrably one sided, constantly portraying Israel as the villain, and who permit all kinds of anti-Semitic comment by neo-nazis and their ilk, all of a sudden claim to be “Impartial”, therefore refusing appeals for Humanitarian aid for the civilian population in Gaza. You would have to work very hard to find a greater demonstration of hypocrisy!!!
If you look at all the Arab & Islamic websites you’ll see that they are always complaining that the BBC is too pro-Isreal. I’ve been monitoring theit websites for years. They yell more against the BBC than the Jewish sites. Each side seems too think that the BBC favors the other side.
They keep on highlighting the human suffering of the Gazans. Now if you thought for a moment it comes from deep concern for the wellbeing of Palestenian women and children, here is proof of what their implicit motives are
Maybe this has to do with the fact that Hamas recently kidnapped one of their reporters?
If anyone thinks that the aid money goes towards alleviating any humanitarian suffering they are kidding themselves. African dictators have been selling food intended for starving residents to financially prop up their governments for decades. The UNRWA is practically an arab organization and who knows what their stance really is vis-a-vis hamas and israel.
stay strong bbc .the pallies do not need a few pounds from the british when the arab states are pouring billions into the UK and US economy so it doesnt sink.dont you think they could send a couple over to gaza?get real.this is about getting sympathy from the media more then anything.
Just to put fact straight
The BBC does not take advertisements for payment
They can however as part of a News Bulliten advise where aid can be sent