A Black Swan

Imagine my surprise today when I opened the Independent newspaper to find an article on the Middle East that was not only quite sensible, but really quite good. Given most of their coverage over the last month I was almost startled to see a reasoned and logical article adorn their pages.

The article is by Dominic Lawson and is well worth a read. Given that BBC-bashing is now the in thing, you might not find such a reasonable article anywhere else, ever again. The article concerns the decision by the BBC not to show the DEC appeal for Gaza on the grounds that they want to remain impartial:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-when-charities-turn-political-the-bbc-is-right-to-tread-warily-1516810.html


Now, I've not actually made my mind up about this one yet. It shouldn't really matter what the politics of a situation are; if people need help, and UK television watchers can give that help, then it could be argued that there is a duty to get the necessary information to as many people as possible.

However, what is written in the article above is also true, and it's a shame that charities such as Christian Aid should decide to muddy themselves with the nuances of the conflict and thereby devalue the good work which they could and should be doing.

Charities such as Christian Aid are not neutral entities. They could have been, but for reasons beyond my understanding they decided to start playing "UN" a number of years ago. The sad fact of the matter is that once an organisation decides to tell Gordon Brown to "push for the EU to suspend its talks with Israel on upgrading relations" because Israel is "in breach of international humanitarian law in targeting civilians in Gaza", then that organisation has lost some legitimacy.

I might also add, that if I was the BBC, the mere presence of Islamic Relief on that list of charities would be enough for me to be sure that I did not want to associate myself with the advertisement. See the post Le pièce de résistance below - that should explain things nicely.

The article also points out another folly that has been going on in this whole affair - the role of Galloway and his cronies in finding any opportunity for a bit of mayhem and Jew bashing. Lawson writes:

Those who felt most strongly that the BBC should be condemned for not backing down went on a march to Broadcasting House at the weekend. With George Galloway and Tony Benn at the head, it was quite a turn-out... I was especially struck by one of the speakers, who, to applause, praised Press TV, the British media arm of the Iranian government, which is prepared to show the DEC film, and cried "shame" on the BBC for not employing similar high standards of judgement.

Similar high standards of judgment? As the article goes on to explain, Press TV publishes Holocaust denial literature on its website - high standards of judgement indeed.

I'm not sure if I agree with the BBC on this, but I don't blame their caution. I do however blame firmly and resolutely the role that some charities are insistent upon taking in Gaza and across the Middle East. It is sad to see that these organisations, with so much capacity to do good, get sucked into the nihilistic relativism of Galloway, Livingstone and the rest of the loony left.

If they want to do their jobs properly, then charities should be charities and nothing more; least of all they should be vehicles for political expression, dabbling in international relations whenever they see fit.