If the BBC was not tarnished enough by its coverage of
Israel’s attack on Gaza — in the words of Tony Benn, “often
looking like a propaganda wing of the Zionist lobby” — its
decision yesterday to block an appeal for emergency aid to
Gaza would be reason enough for making the BBC a focus of our
demonstration on Saturday 24 January.
While the media is now saturated with reports showing the
scale of Israel’s barbarism over the past three weeks and the
humanitarian disaster it has created, and while the United
Nations, the Red Cross and all the other aid organisations
involved are saying that immediate emergency aid must be
rushed to Gaza, the BBC has blocked a joint appeal by a wide
range of organisations from being broadcast after all the main
news programmes on every TV channel.
These emergency appeals to populations in desperate need of
aid have been organised frequently in the past 48 years and
not once in that time has one been blocked. It is agreed by
all the channels that a decision to support an aid appeal must
be unanimous among the broadcasters and so the BBC’s decision
not to agree scuppered the whole aid appeal, which it is
estimated would have raised at least £10 million — aid which
would have been used immediately to help Palestinians in Gaza,
now barely surviving in catastrophic conditions.
One in six buildings have been destroyed or badly damaged by
Israel’s bombs and missiles, many dead are buried underneath
and still being dug out, the country’s infrastructure has been
destroyed, one million people have no electricity, half a
million people have no access to clean running water, the
hospitals are crammed with people who have suffered horrific
injuries without enough basic medical supplies for them to get
the treatment they need.
A spokesperson for the organisations which wanted to broadcast
the prime time appeal, said, “Agencies are already providing
food, drugs and blankets as well as delivering clean water.
But we will soon reach the limit of what we can do, without
more money.”
And the BBC’s response? “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 news
story.”
This has nothing to do with “impartiality” – the appeal was
for humanitarian aid to a devastated people. How can you be
“impartial” about that? Either these people need the aid or
they don’t.
We have seen throughout these weeks of barbarism how Israel’s
spin machine has been indulged by the BBC in particular. We
know, as the Guardian reported two weeks ago, that the BBC
management instructed its journalists to enable this to
happen. The result was Israeli spokespersons given frequent
opportunity to justify mass slaughter, including the deaths of
over 400 children.
Our demonstration on Saturday assembles outside BBC
Broadcasting House. To register our disgust at the BBC’s
capitulation to Israel’s manipulation and intimidation of the
media, we are asking protestors to bring children’s dolls,
wrapped if possible in white shrouds, to be laid on the steps
of the BBC, as a memorial to the hundreds of children who died
and as an act of solidarity with the Paletinians in Gaza
denied urgently needed aid because of BBC “impartiality”.
DEMONSTRATE FOR GAZA: SATURDAY 24 JANUARY
END THE BLOCKADE: STOP ALL ARMS SALES
BRING THE WAR CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE
Assemble 2.00pm BBC Broadcasting House for rally
Portland Place, London W1A 1AA
Nearest tubes: Great Portland Street or Regents park.
March starts at 3.00 pm. Ends with rally in Trafalgar Square
4.30 pm.
BRING CHILDEN’S DOLLS WRAPPED IN WHITE SHROUDS TO LAY ON THE
STEPS OF THE BBC
BRING SHOES WITH MESSAGES TO GORDON BROWN INSIDE TO DELIVER AS
WE MARCH PAST DOWNING STREET
Instead of banning all arms trade with Israel and breaking all
diplomatic relations, Brown has offered to send the British
navy to help Israel tighten its blockade on Gaza.
MARCH ROUTE:
Assemble and rally Portland Place, March to Regent Street,
Piccadilly, Lower Regent Street, Trafalgar Square,
Northumberland Avenue, Embankment, Parliament, Downing Street,
Trafalgar Square (End rally
