Oh, well, I'll say it, since no-one else seems inclined to. Surely the elephant in the Gaza disaster appeal room is this. Once the BBC agreed to broadcast the Gaza appeal, sympathisers with the Israeli position would be bound to organize an appeal for the victims of the rocket attacks in southern Israel, complete with pictures of children in shelters and so on. The BBC would probably not be at all keen on broadcasting this, but how could it refuse after the Gaza appeal had been aired? Then the authorities in the West Bank would raise an appeal for the impoverished children there, complete with pictures of the suffering. Then the Israelis would have an appeal for the families of the victims of suicide bombings. Then one of the many charities that are organised by Hezbollah would have an appeal for the "redevelopment" of southern Lebanon. Then...
This process would end only with the six personal-and-rebutting broadcasts by Osama, Obama, and Benedict XVI.
Do we really want to pressurize the BBC to go there?
