Tony Benn on the BBC

I know I am currently not linking to BBC related stuff, but for this I make an exception.



Hat tip to Caron

Dear Auntie...Yours Disgusted of Bathgate

I've just sent this off the following to the BBC complaints department.

I am disgusted to learn that the BBC has chosen not to show the DEC appeal.

If such charities as British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, and Save the Children cannot be trusted to make an impartial appeal I doubt that the BBC is truly as impartial as it wishes to appear.

I use the BBC sources as one of the top party political bloggers and often link through to news on you site. I will be refusing to do RSS feeds and various Twitter updates. I shall be obtaining my news for use on my blog from other sources until the DEC appeal is shown on the channel my taxes help fund.

I urge you do a number of things.

Write and complain to the BBC, this can be done via their website.

Sign the online petition.

I encourage you to join the Facebook Group The BBC has refused to run the Gaza appeal on TV - help change its mind

If you are a fellow blogger, don't use BBC sources in you blogging until this is overturned. Advise the BBC of this in you complaint.

If you use Twitter and Follow any of the BBC News Tweeters unfollow from them. At the time of my unfollowing there were 10,022 followers of @bbcbreaking. This is a visable number to us and the BBC of just how widespread the feelings against this decision.

Last week the web lobby managed to apply pressure on Gordon Brown over MPs expenses. This week we appear to be asking the BBC to be humane.

Impartiality or BBC Ineptitude

Well it will be Sky News, ITV or Channel 4 for me from now on as well as watching snippets of Al Jazeera on You Tube because the BBC is refusing to show a TV appeal for the victims of the war in Gaza. I will also stop using BBC links from this blog after this post which will make things little harder but a price I'm willing to pay.

I've also stopped following @bbcbreaking and @bbcscotland on Twitter. If Twitter can spread the word on #MPexpences let's see if we can send the BBC a direct message by unfollowing them en masse.

In the BBC story of why they have refused Michael Johnson says it it so that they do not want to appear to be partial in their coverage of the conflict. For starters the conflict is currently in ceasefire and the majority of the victims, and all of the civilian victims in the war are from the Palestinian side by a ratio of 100:1. When you add on the buildings, health and education facilities that have been affected it greater heightens the case for a human response to help.

Mr Johnson's statement says:

"Inevitably an appeal would use pictures which are the same or similar to those we would be using in our news programmes but would do so with the objective of encouraging public donations.

"The danger for the BBC is that this could be interpreted as taking a political stance on an ongoing story."

So the BBC is telling orphaned and injured children, bereaved parents, doctors and nurses fighting to help the injured in damaged facilities that appearing to be impartial is more important than there lives. That because they covered the war impartially and showed the major extent of bombardments in Gaza and minimal impact in Israel, that impartiality and heavy weighting of coverage to Palestine is no longer impartial.

The BBC do not seem to be playing from a level playing field as they have shown appeals for war victims in the past. The fact that there is, or has been a sizable Jewish presence in running of the BBC does throw the current decision, which is contrary to the approach of ITV, Channel 4 and Five, into some sort of favouritism towards Israel (or possibly indirectly to the USA).

In my personal opinion the BBC should get off this particular high horse and join the human race for a change.

For the record various Blue Peter appeals on the BBC have been for victims of wars that are part of ongoing stories, others have been to war torn or embattled areas. The distribution of the things bought with these appeals must have been very carefully balanced to avoid favouritism. However, if the children's programming department can be trusted to remain impartial, you expect whoever would have t liaise with the appeal makers can be also.

• 1976 Lifeline Lebanon Appeal for victims of the civil war.
• 1979 Bring and Buy Sale for Cambodia which was still a contested country at the time.
• 2004 The Welcome Home Appeal to reunite families ripped apart by the Angolan civil war

Devastation of Gaza Unveiled

With the ceasefire in place the full extent of the 3 week bombardment on Gaza has now emerged.

• Half a millon people have been without water for 3 weeks.
• Huge numbers also without power
• 4,000 homes in ruins.
• Tens of thousands homeless.
• 16 health facilities and 16 ambulances damaged.
• 60 Schools damaged (including 4 used by the UN as shelters for the homeless)
• More than 1,300 Palestinains dead (that's a 100:1 ratio with the Israelis)
• Over 20,000 injured

The Palestinians are now pulling dead from the rubble of buildings. Something they couldn't start to do under the constant bombardment. But something that even after the ceasefire was subject to Israel army movements. The Israels who took hows to enter are taking days to withdraw but promise to be be done by 19:00 local time (17:00 GMT) tomororrow when Barack Obama is to be inaugurated.

There have been 20 rockets fired from Palestine into Israel since the announcement of the unilateral Israeli ceasefire. However, it is not clear by the wording from Israeli authorities whether these were before or after the actually start of the ceasefire which was some hours after the announcement. Israel responded with an air strike.