Unlike ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, the BBC has refused to air a public appeal for aid to Gaza.
BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons voiced concern that comments made by politicians are coming close to "undue interference" in the BBC's editorial independence.
He said that the judgment on whether the broadcast should be shown was not for the Trust, which oversees the Corporation on behalf of the public, but for the BBC's senior editorial executives, led by director general Mark Thompson.
On Friday night, Mr Thompson rejected a plea from International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander to screen the appeal.
"After consultation with senior news editors, we concluded that to broadcast a free-standing appeal, no matter how carefully couched, ran the risk of calling into question the public's confidence in the BBC's impartiality in its coverage of the story as a whole," he said.
Thousands of British people have marched through London in protest at this. A motion has been tabled in the House Of Commons for next week. But perhaps most bizarrely, the BBC is now being blamed for 'increasing the misery' of the Palestinians...!
Justice minister Shahid Malik, who was Britain's first Muslim minister, said:"Sadly, across the globe the BBC's decision will be viewed as one which inflicts still further misery on the beleaguered and suffering people of Gaza. "
So let's get this straight. The Palestinians elect Hamas, knowing it is a terrorist group that aims to kill all Israeli Jews. Hamas then spends several years terrorising Israeli and murdering Israeli civilians by way of suicide bombings and missile attacks. Finally Israel retaliates.
And now the BBC is to blame for what the Palestinians are suffering???
Well, I guess it makes a change from blaming Israel!
Seems that Britain is determined to blame everyone and everything but the Palestinians themselves.
It's also worth noting that when Israelis were being killed by Hamas, and Israeli schools and hospitals and towns were being destroyed, the world didn't give a damn, much less run public appeals for aid.
I'm no fan of the BBC, but if they do stick to their guns on this one, I will salute them.
If.
