Would somebody get this man a dictionary?

I'm very disappointed in the BBC. I would have thought that a news organization of its pedigree would be familiar with the definition of 'impartiality', given the importance of that concept in journalism. But apparently not.

The venerable Beeb has refused to air a humanitarian appeal for Gaza, which has been launched by a number of highly regarded international NGOs, on the grounds that doing so would compromise its impartiality. This is bollocks. Impartiality means treating all sides equally, rigorously applying the same standards to everyone, irrespective of who they are or whether you agree with them. That means that the BBC should report the humanitarian impact of the conflict on all civilians, Israeli or Palestinian. Where that impact is disproportionate, as it is in this case, BBC coverage should faithfully reflect this.

If the BBC was confused about what impartiality might mean in the context of an international conflict, the editors could have found a clue in the list of organizations backing the appeal. Impartiality is one of the three core tenets of humanitarian action. Clearly these NGOs didn't find
a Gaza appeal inconsistent with humanitarian principles; indeed those principles dictated that action was required.

In other words, impartiality not only allows the BBC to recognize a humanitarian disaster, it obliges it to do so. Somebody get those guys a dictionary.