Furious energy workers down tools - Morning Star

THREATENED: Workers protesting at unfair hiring practices outside the Lindsey oil refinery on Friday. Pic: Morning Star.

Furious energy workers down tools - Morning Star

THOUSANDS of energy workers defied Britain's anti-union laws on Friday, hitting oil refineries, gas and chemical plants and power stations with strikes and solidarity action.

Workers at mass meetings across the country voted to strike in solidarity with construction workers at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lancashire, who downed tools in protest at their bosses' unfair hiring practices.

The Total refinery had contracted out work to a construction firm that then brought in Italian workers who unions feared would be exploited by bosses to undercut the pay and conditions of existing staff.

Workers at the nearby ConocoPhillips refinery and the massive Grangemouth refinery in Scotland ignored repressive Tory anti-union laws by walking off the job in solidarity and sparking a wave of defiant protests and unofficial strikes across the country.

Shell's gas terminal in Aberdeen, ExxonMobil's petrochemicals plant in Fife, the liquefied natural gas terminal in Milford Haven, a chemical plant in Teeside and the Corus steelworks near Redcar were all hit by lightning walk-outs or protests throughout the day.

Unite Aberdeen union organiser Tommy Campbell insisted that workers were protesting against their bosses, not the foreign workers that management had brought in.

"Bosses always try to use nationality to create divisions among workers, but the point is to stop management breaking national union agreements," he said.

One of the Unite shop stewards at the Total refinery Garry Scales stressed that workers were "angry that people from outside Britain are being taken on" while skilled local workers are added to the dole queue.

And local Labour MP Shona McIsaac added that the contractor's decision had been "like a red rag to a bull for local people who are out of work."

But Unite Scotland organiser Bobby Buirds pointed out that "our argument is not against foreign workers."

As the nazi BNP tried to exploit the workers' fight, with deputy leader Simon Darby claiming on Friday that BNP members would soon join the picket lines, refinery worker and Unite activist Billy Bones told the fascist party to keep away.

"The BNP will not be welcome under any circumstances. The Italian workers have every right to be there as their firm won the contract and the issue is not their nationality," he declared.

"The BNP influence can only be a negative one," he said.

GMB union officer Kathleen Walker Shaw agreed, calling BNP "exploitation of the workers' legitimate concerns abhorrent."

Referring to the Total's contractor's actions, she pointed out: "Bosses shouldn't undermine workers in other countries like this. At a time of mass unemployment, it encourages the narrow, nationalistic arguments that led to fascism in the 1930s."

Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson revealed that union lawyers would now be investigating the "potential illegality of some employers' practices in the engineering and construction industries."

Announcing plans for a national protest in London, he said: "We will do everything in our power to ensure that employers end this immoral and politically dangerous practice of excluding British workers."

George Galloway: "It's about decent jobs, available to all"

Link: JERRY HICKS ON REFINERY DISPUTES
Link: Star Comment: Biting back at bosses' Europe
Link: Features: Undermining Labour - Morning Star
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Video: 2009-01-26 - George Galloway - Bolton (Gaza)

Supporting Gaza - why over 1000's people turned up in Bolton. Please watch this video and support the "Viva Palestina" Aid Convoy to Gaza.

Link: "Viva Palestina" Web Site
Link: "Viva Palestina" - Facebook Group - all the latest news
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George Galloway on the Aid Convoy for Gaza video

"Viva Palestina" - Support the UK Aid Convoy to Gaza.

More - Video George Galloway MP on the Aid Convoy for Gaza

Link: Video: George Galloway MP | Protest For Gaza, Against ...
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We will not go down (Song for Gaza) by Michael Heart

If you care about Gaza and Palestine please watch this video.

Donate to the Viva Palestina UK Aid Covoy to Palestine HERE - its leaves for Gaza on Saturday 14th February.

Link: Palestinian Gaza - NEW SONG 2009 (little kid si...
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Gaza: BBC Manchester protest

GGaza: BBC Manchester protest yesterday. Pic Richard Searle.

There was about 60 of us and most got into the lobby area and stayed for 45 minutes, chanting and demanding to see the senior manager on duty. A protest was mentioned at the huge Galloway public meeting last night and Respect decided to get into the building and occupy. Two members held the doors open and kept the security guards at bay while the protest moved into the lobby.

At all times, it was peaceful but angry. When the police arrived, they were more concerned to talk to the BBC management and defuse the protest than throw us out. So the BBC senior manager on duty agreed to a meeting tomorrow. The question is whether the BBC shows good faith.

Once we left, the DEC broadcast was shown on the side of the BBC building.

Comment by Chris C on Socialist Unity

Link: More pictures - Richard Searle
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Double standards as the Gaza death toll rises by Salma Yaqoob

Double standards as the Gaza death toll rises by Salma Yaqoob.

Double standards as the Gaza death toll rises

The Boycott Israel Campaign
The world has been looking on in shock and disbelief as over the last three weeks the people living in the tiny Gaza Strip have been subjected to a devastating Israeli onslaught.

The whole of Gaza is sealed by the Israelis so families have nowhere to flee to for safety, and urgent food and medical supplies are blocked from going in. The mothers of Gaza are asking: For what crime are our children being killed?

While more than 10 Israelis have died, over 1,000 Palestinians, including more than 400 children have been killed. Any loss of human life is tragic, regardless of background, but the impact on children in this latest war is particularly disturbing. Senior United Nations officials are now calling for an international war crimes investigation in Gaza due to the indiscriminate bombardment which has destroyed homes, schools and hospitals, including a UN school and aid depot.

Amid the brutal military ‘operation’ (they don’t call it ‘war’) a slick Israeli PR operation has been under way. While people around the world, including many Jewish people, recoil in horror at the carnage that has been unleashed, Israeli officials and their apologists have been busy explaining it is they who are the victims. It is Israelis who fear for their survival and that killing Palestinian children really is a regrettable by-product in their war on Hamas – which they claim is a terrorist outfit whose goal is to drive all Jews into the sea. And when mention is made of the treatment of Palestinians, Zionists invoke the experience of the European Holocaust to silence any criticism, often deliberately using the charge of ‘anti-Semitism’ to curtail discussion.

These carefully crafted and oft-repeated messages are very much part of Israel’s ruthless war on the Palestinian people. They mask a very different reality.

The current conflict has taken place against a breakdown of a six-month ceasefire in which no Israeli died due to rocket fire, a ceasefire initiated by Hamas but broken by an Israeli incursion that killed six Palestinians in November. This attack was deliberately designed as a provocation to wage war in the dying days of the Bush presidency and in the run-up to Israeli elections in February.

Given the adjective ‘militant’ or ‘terrorist’ at any mention of Hamas, very few people in the West even know Hamas is the official government of the Occupied Territories, elected in 2006. The former US president Jimmy Carter and his observers described it as “one of the cleanest and fairest elections” he had ever witnessed. It has been several years since Hamas’ leadership offered to negotiate a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders. Instead of embracing this compromise which gives the Israelis 80 per cent of original Palestine and ensures a lasting peace, the Israelis have refused to even negotiate. Instead they have chosen to continue to pursue a path of aggression and further expansion.

Furthermore, given Hamas members and their families are part of the fabric of the society, living together in the overcrowded strip, the notion they use civilians as protection for launching rockets into Israel and base their mortars alongside schools is ludicrous. It is simply another lie in the Israeli arsenal to draw attention away from the fact defenceless civilians are being bombarded quite deliberately as part of breaking even the idea of self-determination for ordinary Palestinians.

The idea Israel faces a threat to its very existence, is surrounded by many enemies and is alone in defending itself, is another line peddled to justify Israel’s appalling violence, sadly repeated in this paper by Sir Bernard Zissman last week. The reality of course is Israel is not a weak or vulnerable state. On the first day alone, Israel boasted having dropped 100 tonnes of bombs in Gaza. It is backed by the most powerful state in the world, the US, and its allies. It is given overwhelming military and diplomatic support. It is American F16s that are being used to bomb Palestinians and it is the US veto in the UN Security Council which allows Israel to violate more than 100 UN Resolutions without facing any practical consequences.

Many people around the world have seen through the propaganda smokescreen despite Israel banning any foreign journalists from entering Gaza. The public has been shocked with the ineffectual hand-wringing and little action on the parts of government to curtail Israel’s violence. There have been demonstrations around the world, including huge ones up and down this country.

To that end I am really pleased colleagues from all four parties in Birmingham City Council have signed a call for government to allow the council to implement sanctions against countries which continuously flout UN resolutions, Israel being one of the worst offenders. The cabinet must now act on this cross-party recommendation.

The principle here is moral consistency. It is not that Israel should be singled out for punitive measures, but that it should stop being treated with kid gloves and given diplomatic cover for acting above the law. It is not unreasonable to expect Israel to adhere to international norms and to subject it to sanctions until it does so. In the past Iraq has been subjected to sanctions for non-compliance. Today, Iran and Hamas continue to be subjected to economic sanctions.

According to Home Office figures annual bilateral trade between Britain and Israel has exceeded £2 billion for the past five years. Israel is the UK’s largest individual export market and trading partner in the region. Every year the British government approves over £20m in arms sales to Israel. So of course it has huge leverage in this situation.

The UN’s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, John Dugard, and Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town, have described the Israeli treatment of many Palestinians as being worse than during apartheid-era South Africa. One of the factors that helped bring an end to the South African apartheid regime was international pressure including a boycott approach.

Birmingham citizens have been protesting in their thousands. It is heartening to see their desire for peace and concern for human life. Young people, especially, however, cannot understand the double standards and it is imperative we show leadership and emphasise peaceful non-violent solutions. There needs to be an immediate lifting of the blockade of Gaza, Israel should stop being treated above the law and sanctions need to be implemented until it abides by international law and UN resolutions.

* Salma Yaqoob is Birmingham City Respect Councillor for Sparkbrook - Web Site

Link: Salma Yaqoobs Web Site
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MP wins standing ovation in plea for people of Gaza

SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE: Part of the audience which heard Mr Galloway appeal for aid for Gaza.

MP wins standing ovation in plea for people of Gaza - The Bolton News

RESPECT MP George Galloway addressed an audience of more than 1,000 supporters as he urged Bolton to back a humanitarian aid appeal for the people of Gaza.

The outspoken MP for Bethnal Green and Bow was given a standing ovation after he delivered a powerful speech at the 3D Centre in Bella Street, Daubhill, last night.

Mr Galloway condemned the Israeli government’s violence in Palestine and criticised the American and British governments for supporting Israel.

He also launched a scathing attack on the BBC for refusing to televise a humanitarian aid appeal for the people in Gaza who have been left dead, injured and homeless by the fighting.

He said: “The British government, which already has one million Muslims’ blood on their hands with the Bush and Blair invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, has sided with Israel from the beginning.”

Mr Galloway is planning to lead an aid convoy from the UK to Gaza, via Europe and north Africa, on February 14.

He is appealing for people to donate food, clothes, medicine, toys and other aid to be transported to Gaza in the convoy.

As he urged people to give whatever they had, audience members came forward with donations ranging from packets of painkillers to office space.

One man donated a 44-tonne truck to the appeal, while another gave two ambulances and a student offered the use of his house for two weeks.

Collection buckets were passed round and returned stuffed with notes.

Mr Galloway said: “You need to get your own trucks. Get the name of Bolton on them. Make sure that the convoy doesn’t arrive in Gaza with no presence from Bolton.”

Mr Galloway pledged to the audience that he would to return to Bolton to report his findings after his visit to Gaza.

Link: Viva Palestina - support the Covoy to Gaza
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Video: Protest against BBC in London for blocking Gaza charity appeal

Tony Ben and George Galloway Respect MP ouside the BBC last Saturday - an example to all in direct peacefull protest!

Video lasts for 1.33 secs - worth a look. On YouTube by PalestinianArchive

Link: Galloway Gaza Protest BBC 24th January 2009 Lon... - You Tube
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Sky joins BBC in Gaza aid appeal ban - shame on them!

Tony Benn DEC appeal on News 24- YouTube by wotdoesitmatter

Sky joins BBC in Gaza aid appeal ban - shame on them! - The Independent

Sky News announced today that it was joining the BBC in refusing to broadcast an emergency appeal for Gaza.

The broadcaster said in a statement that it had informed the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella organisation for 13 humanitarian aid agencies, of its decision.

John Ryley, head of Sky News, said: "The conflict in Gaza forms part of one of the most challenging and contentious stories for any news organisation to cover.

"Our commitment as journalists is to cover all sides of that story with uncompromising objectivity."

The decision comes after BBC Director-General Mark Thompson today defended the corporation's decision not to broadcast the appeal in spite of more than 10,000 complaints.

He said the BBC was "passionate" about defending its impartiality.

Speaking on Sky News, the channel's head of foreign news, Adrian Wells, said: "Passions are raised on this story, passions are raised in this country and that is only a small reflection of the passions raised in the Middle East. And that is part of the backdrop of why we've made the decision we've made.

"We have to, as an international channel, focus on our primary role and that is to report the story and not become the story."

Asked why Sky had decided not to broadcast the appeal but Channel 5, for whom they provide news coverage, will show it, he said: "The dynamics for Sky News are different. Channel 4, 5 are not international news channels - they are broad channels showing all sorts of programmes. The dynamics about what is right for us are different to what is right for them.

"Let me say to those people who might be angry, people who might be passionate about this, there is no question about Sky's commitment to reporting the region. We've had our reporters there since the gates of Gaza opened. There is absolutely no question of Sky viewers not being aware of the humanitarian crisis."

He said that Sky had "no problem with the good intentions of the DEC appeal".

Mr Ryley continued in his statement: "We have provided, and we will continue to provide, extensive coverage from Gaza and from the wider region on the conflict and its human consequences for people on both sides.

"Our team is on the ground in the region and will continue to cover the story in the coming days and weeks.

"The absolute impartiality of our output is fundamental to Sky News and its journalism.

"That is why, after very careful consideration, we have concluded that broadcasting an appeal for Gaza at this time is incompatible with our role in providing balanced and objective reporting of this continuing situation to our audiences in the UK and around the world.

"It is important to state that this decision is not a judgment on the good intentions of the appeal.

"No-one could fail to be touched by the human suffering on both sides of the conflict, which has been the focus of much of our own reporting in the region."

The decision by Sky comes after the BBC came under intense pressure over its decision not to broadcast the appeal.

More than 10,000 complaints have been received about the BBC decision and it has been urged by a series of public figures including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to reconsider its decision.

A parliamentary motion also urging the BBC to screen the appeal was backed by more than 50 MPs from across the Commons.

Terrestrial broadcasters ITV, Channel 4 and Five said they would show the advert from today.

Over the weekend, thousands of people demonstrated against the decision outside the BBC's Broadcasting House in central London and, last night, about 50 protesters "occupied" the lobby of BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow.

The DEC - which brings together several major aid charities including the British Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam - wants the appeal to be broadcast on TV and radio to help raise millions of pounds for people in need of food, medicines and shelter following Israel's three-week assault on the Palestinian territory.

Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander told Sky News that the BBC was, "a treasured national institution" and that their coverage of the conflict, in common with Sky's, had been "exemplary".

But he said: "My appeal is a much more straight forward one. People are suffering right now, many hundreds of thousands of people are without the basic necessities of life. That for me is a very straight forward case and I sincerely hope that the British people respond with characteristic generosity.

He said that the government is today sending armoured cars to Gaza to help the UN deliver aid and was donating money to the mine clearance effort.

"We are matching our words of concern with practical actions. We are getting on with the job this week to distribute money on behalf of the British people to British organisations."

Defending the BBC decision, Mr Thompson said potentially many millions of people would find out about the appeal through BBC news programmes.

Asked how he could justify refusing a request made on behalf of major charities such as the Red Cross, Save the Children and Christian Aid, Mr Thompson told BBC Breakfast: "When they first contacted us they absolutely acknowledged that the particular nature of what was going on in Gaza might well cause a problem for the BBC's impartiality.

"Right from the start, the DEC knew because this is not a new policy, the idea that the BBC would take really quite a strict view about impartiality, especially in a story as complex and contentious as Gaza and the broader Israel/Palestine story, that is not news and wasn't a surprise to the DEC either."

He added that if the situation was the "other way round" and the principal humanitarian concern was in Israel and not Gaza, the view of the corporation would be "exactly the same".

He said the BBC understood the "absolutely good intentions" behind the appeal.

Other public figures to criticise the BBC decision include Samantha Morton, the Golden Glob- winning actress, who said she would never work for the BBC again if it failed to change its decision.

The advert was not a political message but "about raising money for children who are dying", she said.

The early day motion to be tabled by Labour's Richard Burden has received the support of 51 MPs from across the Commons.

Mr Burden, a member of the Commons' International Development Committee, said he had written to Mr Thompson to press for an explanation for the BBC's decision, calling those given so far "both unconvincing and incoherent".

"This is not about taking sides in the conflict. It is about providing urgent help to people in desperate need," he said.

"More than 400 children have died, thousands are homeless and nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza.

"The important thing is to get aid into Gaza. This is recognised by almost everyone - including the Government. The BBC appears to be the only one who has a problem seeing this."

Link: Tony Benn Statement on BBC "betrayal" over charity broadcast - STWC
Link: Complain about BBC decision >> - STWC
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Steel workers braced for jobs meltdown

Corus steel work at south Gare. Pic: BBC.

Steel workers braced for jobs meltdown by Alan Jones - The Independent.

Thousands of workers at steel giant Corus are expected to be told today that they face redundancy following a huge downturn in demand and a slump in orders.

The Indian-owned firm, which employs 24,000 workers in the UK, declined to comment on speculation that it was planning to cut up to 3,500 jobs from its global workforce of 42,000.

But there was speculation that between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs are about to be axed in the UK with an announcement coming in the next few days, possibly as early as today.

Union leaders were due to meet the company on Wednesday but now believe it will be brought forward.

It is understood that the company will not close any of its plants, but job losses on such a scale will be a huge blow to British manufacturing which has already been battered by the recession.

The Anglo-Dutch company has steel-making factories at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Teesside as well as steel processing operations in other parts of the UK.

It is believed that the company had been planning to restructure the business but the severity of the crisis which has hit the world steel industry means Corus has to act quickly.

Steel prices, which had been driven to record highs by demand from China, have more than halved in the last year.

Denis McShane, Labour MP for Rotherham, where Corus has a factory, said he had been in contact with the company over the weekend urging that production capacity is maintained so that when demand picks up the UK will remain a force in steelmaking.

"The government have found billions for the banks and must do what it takes to support steel workers and their families as we go through this global recession."

Keith Hazelwood, national officer of the GMB Union said unions would be disappointed if the company had already made decisions about job losses without consulting unions.

Community, which also represents steel workers said it was expecting an imminent announcement from Corus while Terry Pye, national officer of Unite said: "We have a meeting scheduled with Corus for Wednesday but given the current speculation we are ready and willing to meet the company at any time to discuss measures to keep compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum."

Link: Revealed: how the recession will affect your city - The Independent
Link: Meltdown: Iceland on the brink - The Independent
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Mark Thompson: BBC chief held talks in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharon

Mark Thompson: BBC chief held talks in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharon.

"BBC chief holds peace talks in Jerusalem with Ariel Sharon by Guy Adams - The Independent

The BBC is often accused of an anti-Israeli bias in its coverage of the Middle East, and recently censured reporter Barbara Plett for saying she "started to cry" when Yasser Arafat left Palestine shortly before his death.

Fascinating, then, to learn that its director general, Mark Thompson, has recently returned from Jerusalem, where he held a face-to-face meeting with the hardine Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Although the diplomatic visit was not publicised on these shores, it has been seized upon in Israel as evidence that Thompson, who took office in 2004, intends to build bridges with the country's political class.

Sources at the Beeb also suspect that it heralds a "softening" to the corporation's unofficial editorial line on the Middle East.

"This was the first visit of its kind by any serving director general, so it's clearly a significant development," I'm told.

"Not many people know this, but Mark is actually a deeply religious man. He's a Catholic, but his wife is Jewish, and he has a far greater regard for the Israeli cause than some of his predecessors."

Understandably, an official BBC spokesman was anxious to downplay talk of an exclusively pro-Israeli charm offensive.

Apopros this month's previously undocumented trip, he stressed that Thompson had also held talks with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas" (Editors Note: but not Hamas the elected government of Gaza).

Editors Note: Time for Thomson to resign! How come none of this was aired on the BBC! Time for another picket of the BBC I think!

Link: Stop The War Coalition
Link: Breaking News: BBC Headquarteres Occupied in Scotland
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From London to Gaza: aid to Palestinians on valentine

From London to Gaza: aid to Palestinians on valentine.

Anglo Arab Organisation supports humanitarian aid convoy travelling from London to Gaza.

LONDON - The Anglo Arab Organisation (AAO), a non governmental organisation set to build economic and cultural bridges between the people of the Arab World and the West, urged helping the Palestinian population in Gaza by supporting an aid convoy from London to Gaza to help ease the humanitarian crisis there.

The convoy, led by George Galloway MP, will leave London on 14 February, travelling through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt then via Rafah into Gaza to bring material aid.

The convoy - dubbed Viva Palestina - is supported by Stop the War Coalition, AAO, Interpal, BMI, Scottish and North West Region of the Fire Brigades Union, Ummah Welfare Trust, Friends of Al Aqsa and others.

Israel's war on Gaza killed 1,330 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and wounded 5,450 others.

Among the dead were 437 children, 110 women, 123 elderly men, 14 medics and four journalists.

The wounded include 1,890 children and 200 people in serious condition. Six hundred injured people have been transferred outside Gaza for treatment.

The war also left tens of thousands of houses destroyed, while their residents remained homeless in the winter cold.

Maha Al-Fakier, Secretary General of the AAO, called for the immediate support for the Palestinian population in Gaza.

"We would like your support for this particular event and thank you for your generosity for helping the people of Palestine after this fierce bombardment by the Israeli forces," urged Al-Fakier.

In support of Viva Palestina Convoy, there will be a fund raising dinner held on 5th February 2009 at The Copthorne Tara Hotel Kensington, Scarsdale Place, Kensington, London, W8 5SR.

Before dinner, which is at the Shannon Suite, there will be a reception from 7:30pm to 8:00pm.

Carriages are at 10:30pm and the dress code is lounge suit. Vegetarian menu is available on request and tickets will be £100.00 per person.

For more information on the Convoy, visit www.vivapalestina.org. For more details on the fund raising dinner, contact nataliemagloire@gmail.com or call 0207 605 1834.

Link: Viva Palestina Web Site
Link: Viva Palestina Facebook Group
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BBC: This cowardly decision betrays the values the corporation stands for by Tim Llewellyn

Biased Broadcasting Corporation! Pic: Socialist Unity.

BBC: This cowardly decision betrays the values the corporation stands for by Tim Llewellyn - The Observer.

On Tuesday, speaking from a pulpit in Westminster Abbey, the director general of the BBC, Mark Thompson, paid tribute to one of the corporation's greatest journalists and broadcasters, Charles Wheeler, who died last summer at the age of 85.

Thompson spoke in reverential terms of Wheeler: his independence; his dislike of authority, any authority; his relentless search for the truth, in postwar Germany, in the United States of the 1960s and 1970s, LBJ, Vietnam, Nixon; in India, Kuwait, Kurdistan. Thompson was right. Wheeler was a giant among BBC journalists, rightly hailed as one of the best of his generation.

But even as Thompson spoke, the corporation was traducing every tradition that Wheeler, and many of us who still work for the BBC, have tried to live by. The corporation's chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, had refused to allow it to broadcast an appeal on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee for Gaza. She said that one reason was that "the BBC's impartiality was in danger of being damaged". Could the BBC be sure, she added, that money raised for this cause would find its way to the right people?

How is the BBC's impartiality to be prejudiced by asking others to raise money for the victims of an act of war by a recognised state, an ally of Britain, using the most lethal armaments it can against a defenceless population? What sly little trigger went off in her head when Thomson questioned whether the aid would reach the right people? What right people? Hamas, the elected representatives of the Palestinian people? The hospitals and clinics run by private charities and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency? The mosques? The citizens of Gaza, persecuted beyond measure not only by their Israeli enemies but by the western powers who arm and sustain Israel and defy the democratic vote of the Palestinian people?

Is Thomson more fussed about some imaginary "war on terror" that even the new White House is shying away from than she is about upholding the free speech and freedom of action of the corporation?

This pusillanimous obeisance to some imagined governmental threat has aroused unprecedented anger across the BBC. Reporters and correspondents still on the staff, and who will not name themselves, are beside themselves with rage against a corporation that is traducing the very ideals it is supposed to uphold, and for which the director-general seemed to speak in Westminster Abbey.

This is what one former BBC World Service current affairs producer wrote to his colleagues yesterday: "... I am rarely moved to comment on aspects of the BBC I can no longer influence. But I confess I am deeply saddened and confused - and frankly pleased to be distanced from such decisions - after listening to Caroline Thomson's obfuscating defence on Today of the refusal to broadcast the joint charity appeal on behalf of the suffering in Gaza. The question of partiality is a red herring. It is for the general public to respond to a humanitarian disaster as they choose."

Having dealt with different news managers at the BBC over the past 30 years or so, I can safely say that the modern BBC has become a body of lions led by donkeys. Reporters of the calibre of Jeremy Bowen, David Lloyn, Lyse Doucet, experts in their field and brave people all, will be appalled by the directions they are being given. Edward Stourton and the Today programme rightly produced Tony Benn yesterday morning because they knew he would articulate what their bosses have failed to: reason and humanity.

The big question that remains is this: what are the suits scared of? Why do BBC managers try to second-guess our government and even outreach it in grovelling to the United States and Israel?

BBC journalists, extant and retired, not the "usual suspects", not disaffected radicals and high-octane lefties, are incandescent with rage over this extraordinary piece of institutional cowardice.

The episode makes a travesty of the institution's posturing in Westminster Abbey last week, and discredits the honest reporters the BBC still has on its books and in the field.

• Tim Llewellyn is a former BBC Middle East correspondent

Tony Benn Makes Appeal for Gaza on BBC! - STWC

Link: Protest over BBC Gaza appeal veto BBC News
Link:BBC feels the pressure as MPs, celebrites, and thousands of citizens condemn Gaza Appeal decision - STWC
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