OK, this is getting seriously surreal.

Anyone who suffers through British coverage of the middle east will know that the bias against Israel is astonishing. Israeli fatalities are ignored, opinions are presented as 'facts' and deadly Iranian missiles that Hamas lobs into Israel are dismissed as 'firecrackers'.

Yet today, the BBC is actually being accused of PRO Israel bias!

A row has broken out after the BBC refused to screen an appeal for Gaza. The national broadcaster said it had rejected the ad as it might harm the BBC's reputation for 'impartiality' and because it could not be sure humanitarian aid would reach the needy in the chaotic territory.

The ad has also been turned down by numerous private investors.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said the BBC had made the wrong decision. And - brace yourselves - Health Minister Ben Bradshaw called the BBC's decision inexplicable and accused the publicly funded broadcaster of being cowed by the Israeli government...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I am afraid the BBC has to stand up to the Israeli authorities occasionally," Bradshaw said.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson said the Gaza crisis was "an ongoing and highly controversial news story." He said the BBC had decided "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.

Will the BBC stand firm?

Place your bets, please.

On a more serious note, Bradshaw's pathetic comment that the BBC is scared of the Israeli government has echoes of that old, weary, anti semitic refrain; 'the jews control the media'....

Shame on him.