BBC criticised over Gaza appeal stance

|PIC1|Christian leaders have added their voices to a wave of criticism against the BBC for its refusal to broadcast a relief appeal for Gaza.

The BBC said the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of NGOs including World Vision, Christian Aid and Tearfund, might harm its reputation for impartiality and that it could not be sure the money raised would reach those in need.

"My feeling is that the BBC should broadcast an appeal," the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams said.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, also criticised the BBC earlier in the week for its failure to broadcast the DEC appeal.

"This is not a row about impartiality but rather about humanity," he said. "This situation is akin to that of British military hospitals who treat prisoners of war as a result of their duty under the Geneva convention. They do so because they identify need rather than cause.

"This is not an appeal by Hamas asking for arms but by the Disasters Emergency Committee asking for relief. By declining their request, the BBC has already taken sides and forsaken impartiality."

Now the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev John Gladwin, has warned in an interview with Premier Christian Radio that the BBC will lose the public's confidence if it continues to ignore pleas for the appeal to be aired.

"Ordinary citizens are anxious about the BBC's stance. The danger is that these ordinary citizen will lose confidence in the objectivity of the BBC in their news programmes," he said.

"Surely broadcasters have got the capacity to know how to screen this material in a way that distances it from the controversies of the news."

The church leaders join over 100 MPs who have publicly condemned the BBC's decision.

"The aid is deeply needed. Gaza has been a terrible place for a long time before Hamas and all these things were happening," Bishop Gladwin told Premier Christian Radio.

"This war, whatever the rights or wrongs of the politics of it have left tens of thousands of people homeless, children in a state of trauma, people without food, it's in a terrible state from all accounts."

"The aid agencies have good relationships and contacts in this community and would have huge opportunities of doing some really good work immediately."

"People are in need, we can do something about it. We don't need to be drawn into who is right or wrong in the political situation. We simply have to get on and sort out the need."