THE BBC has been panned over its lack of coverage around a star-studded benefit concert for Palestine.
Organised by Brian Eno and Palestinian artist Malak Mattar, Together For Palestine took place on Wednesday at the OVO Wembley Arena in London.
The performance, which featured a top line-up including Annie Lennox and Damon Albarn, has so far raised an estimated £1.5 million for Palestinian-led organisations working on the frontline of the genocide in Gaza.
Sky News, Al Jazeera, Billboard and other outlets covered the gig, including The Times Of Israel, but the BBC did not until two days after the massive concert took place.
At the time this article was published, the BBC had not covered the event at all. An article on the event appeared on the BBC website shortly afterwards.
Karishma Patel, a former BBC presenter who left the broadcaster over its lack of Gaza coverage, told The National: “Once again, the BBC is disinforming the public with yet another glaring omission in its Gaza coverage.
“There is clear public interest in covering this story – in which thousands gathered at Wembley OVO to raise a huge amount for organisations working on the ground in Gaza.”
In the days following the event, features the BBC ran included a piece about a Cambridgeshire council trialling four-day work weeks, renaming non-working days to “scheduled rest days”.
The corporation also covered the menu for a banquet being held for Donald Trump in Windsor Castle and provided a rundown of the outfits worn by Melania Trump, Kate Middleton and Camilla Parker-Bowles during Trump’s state visit.
“[Together For Palestine] was a massive show of public support for Palestine, and the BBC must accurately reflect this growing public sentiment”, Patel added.
The BBC has faced consistent criticism over its coverage of Gaza, with more than 100 of its journalists writing to Tim Davie this year, raising concerns over censorship and a tendency to favour Israeli narratives.
This week, The National spoke with Mohamed Shalaby, a former employee on the BBC’s Verify team. He said that the corporation was “disproportionately” running background checks on Palestinians and Gazans, almost as a “tool to discredit” their testimonies.
“We put targets on our colleagues. We undermined Palestinians and Palestinian voices. We contributed to dehumanising them," he said.
Together For Palestine raised £500,000 in ticket sales from the sold-out arena and a further £1m in donations for charities including Taawon, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and Palestine Medical Relief Service.
When it was announced in July, Eno wrote on social media: “When dozens of non-partisan organisations like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders describe it as genocide, the moral line is clear.
“We can't remain silent. Which is why I'm helping to organise Together for Palestine – a night of music, reflection and hope at Wembley Arena."
Who performed at Together For Palestine?
Together For Palestine had a number of headline-grabbing names on its lineup. Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, Richard Gere, and Nicola Coughlan appeared on stage.
It followed a report from the UN Commission, confirming that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza during two years of intense military offensives, forced displacements and man-made famine.
Gere was joined by medics who had helped the ill and injured in Gaza, urging the audience to continue "speaking the truth with generosity and love, that's how you change things".
Coughlan, a prominent advocate for Palestinians, called out other celebrities for failing to use their platforms as the genocide continues.
“There are many artists that I love, and I know you love, who have hundreds of millions of followers, and they're saying nothing,” she said.
Oscar-nominated Pugh also said: “Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality, it is complicity. Empathy should not be this hard and it should have never been this hard.”
Musical performances included PinkPantheress, Gorillaz, Bastille, and Jamie XX, alongside a number of Palestinian musicians like Nai Barghouti, Elyanna, Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman, and El Far3i.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
