If you tolerate this, then your children will be next. Donate to the Gaza appeal and don't pay your BBC licence fee

In a display of lip-curling spinelessness, the BBC has refused to air the non-aligned Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Humanitarian Aid to the victims of the Gaza conflict. Other UK (commercial) TV channels, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, have agreed to air the appeal. Sky Television is considering its position. (UPDATE: unsurprisingly, Sky has now declined to broadcast the appeal).

The decision has been condemned by the usual suspects such as John Sentanu, Archbishop of York, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Tony Benn, George Galloway, 60 MPs and Hazel Blears – with friends like that, you might say – but at least they aren’t scared of the shrill ultras (neither is Thus, by the way). International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander’s statement is particularly balanced: “I think the British public can distinguish between support for humanitarian aid and perceived partiality in a conflict. I really struggle to see, in the face of the immense human suffering in Gaza at the moment, that this is in any way a credible argument. They still have time to make a different judgement, to recognise the immense human suffering and to address the concern – which I think otherwise may develop – that somehow the suffering of people in Gaza is not taken as seriously as the suffering of people in other conflicts.”

UK Culture Secretary, the meaningless Andy Burnham, has sat on the fence uttering platitudes. So far, the BBC has reported that it has received over 11,000 complaints from UK citizens but has neglected to mention the sizeable protests outside BBC HQ. In a display worthy of Ruritania, BBC spinmonkeys have tried to turn the story into a defence of BBC ‘impartiality’, claiming that their political position would be affected by broadcasting this appeal – a curious claim given that there are several precedents for airing appeals for the victims of warfare.

The appeal calls for urgently needed food and medicine. The Disasters Emergency Committee aggregates the efforts of 13 largely non-aligned agencies – ActionAid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision UK, attributes no blame and makes no political statements. The simple fact is that many hundreds more men, women, children and old people may die without urgent help. Gaza’s hospitals and infrastructure have been pulverised, on top of a long siege and blockade which has depleted resources. Add to this the destruction of the tunnels which were the only way to bring in essentials (never mind weapons) and you have a full scale humanitarian emergency, admittedly created by man, not nature. What part of this does BBC Director General Mark Thompson find difficult to understand? Arguably, by refusing to air the relief message, the BBC is making a political statement – that these people do not deserve the help of the vast majority of the UK citizens who don’t like watching innocent people needlessly suffer and die. A lot of Jewish people would no doubt contribute too, but not if the spin is that for some bizarre reason, it is politically incorrect to do so.

The BBC has come under constant fire from various Ultra propaganda conduits in the past and during the recent conflict (massacre?) for its perceived pro-Arabist coverage of Israeli-related issues. Its own gormless attempt to spin this decision shows that the corporation has learned a lot from the constant crude fascist barracking from AIPAC and other nutters. Political interference, on one level or another, is apparent. It is cant to pretend otherwise.

Israel, meanwhile, has pledged legal aid to protect its soldiers from prosecution for war crimes in Gaza – as near to an admission that there were war crimes as you’re likely to get. This is entirely their prerogative, and we look forward to the proceedings. I doubt you’ll read much about it on the cowardly BBC, whose executives don’t want their inboxes spammed by gibberish from Zionist PR activists. The Israel lobby has won another victory. The problem with mass murder and terrorising thousands of civilians, bombing hospitals, blockading aid efforts and stifling the international efforts to help is that responsible media organisations might report on it – unless they are intimidated. This was and is part of Ultra-Zionist strategy since the 1982 Lebanon massacres. Neo-fascists in Darfur, DRC, Myanmar, Tibet, Zimbabwe and elsewhere will be taking notes.

You can read about the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal here. Personally, I think Israel should pay full retribution for the damage they have caused – and pay Palestinians in full for the Occupied Territories which they have annexed since 1967 and which are the cause of the Middle East tensions. They can easily afford it. That’s a political statement. Donating isn’t.

John J Kelly.