BBC's help for Israel helps the Palestinians

Assuming Israel doesn't steal the aid that is. According to this Guardian report, the Disasters Emergency Committee has raised £1 million for the people of Gaza which appears to be more than they would have raised if the BBC hadn't helped Israel with its criminal blockade. I'm assuming that's because of the sympathy aroused by the BBC (and Murdoch's Sky TV) so obviously siding with Israel and the fact that the siding with Israel generated publicity for an organisation I for one had never heard of before.

Donations to an emergency fund for Gaza have doubled despite the refusal of the BBC and Sky News to broadcast an appeal that was shown on three other channels last night.

The number of complaints to the BBC also rose overnight and now stands at more than 21,000, with just 380 writing in support of the corporation's stance. At the same time, a parliamentary motion criticising the BBC's decision has grown in popularity and has attracted the signatures of MPs from all parties.

Not only that, there's a picture doing the rounds that makes Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, look ridiculous over this:

From duckrabbit with thanks to Catherine across the pond

And it gets worse still for the Beeb because their support for the racist war criminals of the State of Israel has brought the charge of racism down on themselves:

The BBC is also being threatened with a lawsuit alleging its decision to ban the charity appeal for Gaza from its airwaves was discriminatory, the Guardian has learned. The case is being brought on behalf of 42 people who say they were offended by the corporation's decision.

They will argue that the ban discriminated against the Palestinian people because the BBC refused to allow a charity appeal for them to be broadcast, but did allow appeals for other ethnic or national groups, such as those affected by the conflicts that plagued Darfur and Kosovo. Solicitor Lawrence Davies said: "The decision not to broadcast it is tainted by racism, it is anti-Palestinian."

Davies said British race relations laws covered such acts, although they had never been used in this way before. He said the claim against the BBC could run into millions of pounds. Mark Thompson, the BBC director general, has been sent a letter giving the corporation several days to reverse the ban before legal action starts.

Now this will be interesting. I read about a Jewish guy who used to taunt a Palestinian neighbour by waving an Israeli flag whenever the Palestinian left his house. The police got involved but the accused guy got off on the grounds that Palestinians don't get the protection of race relations law in this country. That was some years ago but that was the gist of the story.

What could happen here is that Mark Thompson could buckle and the Palestinians win even more than they have already won. He could dig in and the case could go to court. People will think that the BBC isn't just pro-Israel but its DG is a zionist fanatic. If it goes to court the court could find against the Beeb. The Beeb is racist and so is Israel. Or a court could find for the Beeb in which case the Beeb is racist, so is Israel and so is the judiciary. A win win win situation for the people of Gaza and the Palestinians as a whole.