Gaza and the Beeb

The BBC may be a wonderful institution but it has at least one unfortunate characteristic. Once a  decision has been taken it is  not very good  at changing its mind or Heaven Forfend - admitting that it just might have got something wrong.

The decision to reject the appeal for airtime  by the Disasters  Emergency Committee to  raise  money for the Gaza disaster was obviously made in good faith. The  BBC has to value its editorial integrity and impartiality above all things and you could debate where the degrees of  political and moral responsibility lies for the death and destruction for years to come.

The problem is hardly  anyone believes that helping overwhelmingly innocent civilians with the bare necessities of life would fatally undermine the BBC's reputation for impartiality. That goes for Government ministers, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Channel 4 which is going ahead with the appeal, Phil Harding the former head of BBC policy, not too mention such respectable charities as Oxfam or Christian Aid.

The end  result is that the  BBC is left sounding heartless, or at the very least sticking to a very arid interpretation of impartiality.

Tony Benn has bluntly accused the BBC of being nobbled by the Israel lobby.

That's the trouble with mistaken decisions  on points of principle - people attribute the worst possible motives to your action.

Time for the  BBC to reconsider and change its mind. There is no shame in that.

ends