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Gaza appeal all over the BBC - literally
The BBC has taken a lot of flack for its decision not to broadcast the DEC Gaza appeal, but now, it appears, that Gaza supporters have broadcast the appeal on them.
Last night members of the International Solidarity Movement, a group which describes itself as “dedicated to resistance to the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state”, took the appeal to the BBC, projecting images from the DEC appeal on to the sandstoned exterior walls of the BBC’s Portland Place Broadcasting House.
What’s interesting about the anger over the BBC’s decision is that it’s very nearly (if not actually) greater than the public response to the Israeli action in Gaza itself. The debate has moved on from alleged war crimes, human suffering and the possibility of long term conflict resolution to the minutiae of BBC’s internal structures and the execution of its journalistic mission.
As a journalist who writes about fundraising, I am flattered by public interest in my specific field and welcome open debate about the media – however, I'm slightly surprised that the BBC has been treated almost as an aggressor in the whole affair.
The campaign, has obviously, been extremely successful and raised a serious amount of money for the cause. And so it should. That’s its job. But, the appeal, as far as the general public is concerned, should not be the news.
As much as I'd like the debate about the right to fundraise to continue, as an individual what I want to see is the argument shift away from fundraising and that great public critical energy directed towards what prompted the DEC to have to raise the money in the first place.
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Julie Hall
3 Feb 2009
I disagree Celina. I can't directly influence the Israeli action in Gaza from my sofa in Beckenham. I can have comfy debates on the rights and wrongs of the situation - but it does nothing to help the Gazans.
However, through appeals and fundraisers I can make a small difference for those in need.
That's why the widespread condemnation of the BBC is justified and necessary.
The national media is the most effective way to communicate en masse - advertisers still pay millions for a 2 min slot in the middle of a prime time show for a reason.
So the BBC's and Sky's refusal to show the ad means millions of people won't see the DEC's message and won't be able to choose whether to support those in Gaza.
And even if people do not give, they are made aware of the issue through watching the appeal - something which your last paragraph stresses is the most important thing.
Celina Ribeiro
3 Feb 2009
I totally take your point Julie. It's only natural that we take action over things we can influence more easily than those we can't.
I still think, however, that the reaction to the BBC decision is slightly disproportionate - and I daresay to the benefit of the DEC who managed to raise £3m in the first week of the appeal.
By the way, I agree that the criticism is justified and welcome the debate.
I was particularly interested that lawyers who are threatening to take the case to the High Court for judicial review claim that the decision has the perverse effect of making the BBC appear biased against Gazans.
Celina Ribeiro is the editor of Fundraising magazine and daily contributor to CivilSociety.co.uk.
Follow Celina @Celina_Ribeiro_
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Stephen Page
4 Feb 2009
Celina I think if ever I saw a potato get too hot to be held on to, it's this one.
To judge from the speed at which the BBC stared into the middle distance and tried to move the agenda on (e.g. Radio4, Today Programme), I am clear in my mind that push came to shove and a political decision was made at the highest level in the BBC that there were less potential ramifications arising from a decision NOT to broadcast. To demonstrate the point, ask the reverse: if the BBC believed that there would be weighty ramifications arising from any decision not to broadcast (e.g. significant civil unrest) would they really have reached the same conclusion. Of course not.
So their decision was an unprincipled one that bore no relation to fairness and justice. As such, it was a decision born of craven weakness, an apparent victory of the well-connected over the down-trodden. Hickman & Rose have admirably taken up the cudgels on behalf of the Gazan community, per your later article. I have written to congratulate them for knowing the difference.
Celina, I have seen for myself what happens in Gaza. It is awful. If you should ever go to Jerusalem and go to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, you will find displays describing the Warsaw Ghetto and the ways that the Nazis oppressed the Jews. Without exaggeration, you need only substitute "Nazi" for "Jew" as the oppressor and "Palestinian" for Jew as the oppressed and it reads perfectly sensibly, right down to the wall that is built round the ghetto and the deprivation inside it.
The BBC had no right to deprive the children of Gaza of the help that would come from the aid appeal. They knew it but to their eternal shame, they looked the other way. Because they didn't want to rock the boat.
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