March for Gaza & Against BBC Pro-Israel Bias. Muslim man and woman in crowd with placard comparing BBC and Aljazeera
Around 5-10,000 people took part in a 'March for Gaza' from a rally in Portland Place to Trafalgar Square where there were further speeches. It had been planned to start with a protest at Broadcasting House drawing attention to the biased reporting of the Israeli attack by the BBC. Marchers called for an end to the Israeli blockade and arms sales to Israel, for a free Palestine and for Israeli war criminals to be brought to justice. BBC bosses had made their pro-Israel position crystal clear to the nation by refusing to run the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for humanitarian relief for Gaza. The decision was widely seen as a failure by the BBC to uphold its reputation for impartiality, despite their curious assertion that impartiality was the reason for their decision to turn down the request by the major charities. The event started with a press conference on the pavement outside Broadcasting House, after which a deputation led by Tony Benn delivered a letter of protest to the BBC. Some major press agencies misreported the number at the press conference - around 400 and mainly press - as the total number of protesters. Benn had earlier in the day been interviewed on the BBC, where he had made the appeal the BBC had refused to run, apparently very much encouraged by BBC presenters and employees who felt let down by their management.
Size: 3347px × 5040px
Location: Portland Place, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: aid, aljazeera, appeal, attack, bbc, bias, blockade, british, broadcasting, charities, committee, dec, demonstration, disasters, emergency, gaza, house, humanitarian, impartiality, initiative, israel, israeli, london, muslim, occupation, palestine, placard, protest, relief, stop, war
