The BBC is taking sides by not showing humanitarian appeal
The BBC has refused to air a humanitarian appeal for Gaza. This is a disgrace.
By Richard Seymour on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 - 520 words.
Facts are awkward. They take sides. They do not conveniently distribute themselves evenly along the spectrum of opinion and, therefore, they lack balance. They must either be suppressed or complemented by some lies. For instance. It is a matter of controversy only to Tzipi Livni that Gaza is experiencing a profound humanitarian crisis. Aside from the thousands dead and wounded, 50,000 people have been left homeless, 400,000 have been left without water, and 84 percent of the population have no secure source of food. Power shortages are normal – 40 percent of the population gets no electricity, while the remaining 60 percent only have intermittent access. Eight of Gaza’s hospitals were partially destroyed by bombing and shelling during the war and 26 clinics were hit, and the whole medical system is suffering from severe shortages, including those resulting from having inadequate or non-existent power supplies. For over a month, access to Gaza’s already diminished medical structure was severely reduced. By standards that are commonsensical, this is a humanitarian catastrophe. It has been worsened by the fact that, due to Israeli attacks on humanitarian workers, much aid delivery had to be suspended during the war itself. 89% of the people have received no aid at all. The simple fact is that if aid doesn’t arrive soon, a great many people will suffer horribly and die.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of 13 UK-based humanitarian agencies, did what it usually does in such circumstances. It prepared an urgent campaign to raise funds from the British public, for Gaza. Under an agreement dating back to 1963, the BBC broadcasts the DEC’s emergency appeals, and other broadcasters tend to follow suit. Yet, this time, they have refused, a decision that will deny the campaign millions of pounds. Other broadcasters are now using this as an excuse to refuse to carry the appeal. The BBC says that its decision was prompted by concerns that broadcasting such an appeal would call its impartiality into question. I have to confess, I have absolutely no idea what this can mean. Does it actually mean anything? Note that the BBC didn’t consider its broadcast on Kosovo, just under a decade ago, to have any implications for its impartiality. This despite the fact that the (very real) humanitarian crisis in Kosovo was at that point being used as a justification for war by the NATO powers that were at that point actually co-responsible for the crisis through their bombing campaign. In that case, there was an obvious consequence of broadcasting the DEC’s appeal, inasmuch as it could have fed into pro-war propaganda and facilitated further carnage – but only a miserly sod would have demanded that it be withdrawn on those grounds. In the case of the Gaza appeal, the only likely consequence of broadcasting it is that some people get a slightly more comfortable and prolonged life. Obviously, the consequence of not broadcasting it is that they don’t. The BBC is therefore clearly not being impartial. It is taking sides, effectively boycotting aid for Gaza on the apparent assumption that their job is to avoid offending Israel’s supporters.
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The Beeb – apparently public service oriented, politically neutral and operationally impartial organisation.
The DEC – public service oriented, politically neutral and operationally impartial organisation.
And yet this disgraceful and tragic turn of events. Has the BBC just got the jitters over the whole Brand-Ross affair? Even the government has spoken out against this decision, and yet our public broadcaster remain obstinate. The fact is that Mark Thompson had to make a tough choice, one that would really demonstrate quite how committed the BBC is to it's declared 'impartiality'. Humanitarian organisations which take a principled stance on impartiality and neutrality, like the DEC and the Red Cross, have to make these decisions every day. Given the same test the BBC, unlike the DEC, has utterly failed.
I think that I have never heard a more absurd declaration than the one of BBC ! !!! I would give BBC So, opoints for originality in propaganda !!! Would then the media be happy to make an appeal for Gaza if it also made an appeal for humanitarian aid towards Israel as well let the people decide which side to support ?
And I thought that only Greek media was feeding us with rubbish……..
Mark Thompson's wife Jane Blumberg is a Zionist. They're on quite good terms with Ariel Sharon.
Hmmm……and to think I doubted his non-sense about "impartiality"