Please complain to the BBC for blocking free prime-time TV airtime for a nationwide appeal for money to help "the desperate plight" of the people of Gaza. The appeal is from the Disasters Emergency Committee - made up of the 13 biggest aid charities, including the British Red Cross, Save the Children, Oxfam and Christian Aid - which said that "the devastation wrought in the Gazan territory was so huge that British aid agencies were compelled to act."
"The broadcast would have highlighted the plight of thousands of victims, including many children, who are homeless and without food, power and water," wrote social affairs correspondent Rosemary Bennett and Patrick Foster in the Times. "By convention, if all broadcasters do not agree to carry the appeal, none does."
The BBC's decision will leave aid agencies with "a potential shortfall of millions of pounds in donations," wrote Jenny Percival in the Guardian, who described it as "a rare breach of an agreement dating to 1963."
"We deeply regret this decision...it will be much more of a struggle now to reach donors," said the DEC's chief executive, Brendan Gormley. "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. For Gazans struggling to survive, receiving urgent humanitarian aid will help them take the first step to recovery."
Gormley added: "There is an urgent need in Gaza today...We are totally apolitical...this appeal is a response to humanitarian principles." DEC appeals have recently raised £10m for the Congo and £18m for Burma.
Please complain (politely) to the BBC at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/
The Times and Guardian articles are at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5568735.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/23/bbc-refuses-gaza-appeal
The DEC press release is at:
http://www.dec.org.uk/item/311
The BBC's press release defending its action is at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/7846150.stm
In denying the Gaza appeal, the BBC is defying its own guidelines for approving appeals:
1) The disaster must be on such a scale and of such urgency as to call for swift international humanitarian assistance.
2) The DEC agencies, or some of them, must be in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance at a scale to justify a national Appeal.
3) There must be sufficient public awareness of, and sympathy for, the humanitarian situation so as to give reasonable grounds for concluding that a public Appeal would be successful.
The BBC has approved the following previous appeals:
Money raised by previous DEC Appeals
| Year |
Appeal |
Money raised |
| 13.10.05 |
South Asia Quake Appeal |
£59m |
| 02.08.05 |
Niger Crisis Appeal |
£32m |
| 06.01.05 |
Tsunami Appeal |
£372m |
| 20.07.04 |
Sudan Crisis Appeal |
£35m |
| 12.08.03 |
Liberia Appeal |
£2.5m |
| 25.07.02 |
Southern Africa Crisis |
£16m |
| 24.01.02 |
Goma Crisis Appeal |
£4.65m |
Further details are at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/charityappeals/emergency/