No appeal for Gaza

[steepholm]

WTF? Since when was it considered partisan to help the civilian victims of a conflict? Does this mean there will never be any appeals on the BBC (or others in the UK - but apparently the Beeb called the shots) for the victims of the Congo, Darfur, etc etc? Or is the idea that the Disasters Emergency Committee is some kind of cat's paw for Hamas? Or what?

Can anybody read this story in a way that makes any kind of non-sickening sense?

Comments

[sovay]

"However, the BBC will, of course, continue to report the humanitarian story in Gaza."

And if no one sends aid, what good does that do?

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I guess they think their job is only to report it, not to do any good about it.

It's a sickening decision.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Quite! I guess they'd better pray for a more acceptable kind of disaster, such as an earthquake. Crush injuries are so much more politically neutral than white phosphorus burns.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Indeed! Things come to mind that shouldn´t and I don´t intend to be cheap about it, but may I just say; writing from Berlin always gives these issues an "interesting" twist? There were similar discussions about the genocide going on at the Balkan at the time, for instance: "Not partaking, just observing".

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

This has been bothering me since I read your post - nothing about it anywhere else that I've seen. But it was reported on R3 news this morning...

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Now it seems that even the government is calling on the BBC to reconsider. It's come to a pretty pass when I hear a government minister criticize the BBC and find myself saying "Too right!"

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. I had to check with abrinsky that I'd heard aright.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Given the way things have gone today (especially the repeated broadcasts of Tony Benn reading out the phone number in BBC news programmes), I'm beginning to wonder if it's an extremely devious but bizarrely masochistic method of giving the appeal even more publicity than it could possibly have got in a normal airing.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I do suspect that some of the BBC's journalists are undermining the official line.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I think they're driving a very large tank through the official line!

[sovay]

I do suspect that some of the BBC's journalists are undermining the official line.

I'd call facing a growing revolt from its own journalists over its decision not to broadcast the Gaza humanitarian aid appeal a "yes" on that count . . .

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

And I see that you can now catch Tony Benn giving the address out on the BBC web site.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Ooh, no, Mr Olmert, we wouldn't broadcast that sort of thing. Mr Benn? Well, how could we guess what he was going to say? On the website? Well, we're just reporting the news as it happens...