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Interpal accuses Panorama of lack of balance
DATELINE: 1/8/06
The Chairman of Trustees of British charity Interpal has called the BBC Panorama programme Faith, hate and charity, transmitted on Sunday 30 July, a "wholly unbalanced and incomplete picture". Speaking after viewing the programme, Ibrahim Hewitt called into question the BBC's decision to broadcast this edition of the supposed flagship of the corporation's current affairs output on the day that Israeli missiles killed 54 civilians - most of them children - in Qana and Israel was under increasing pressure over its military action in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
"We are extremely concerned that the Panorama production team appears to have gone out with a pre-set thesis and made a programme to suit a particular political agenda," said Mr. Hewitt. "There is a severe imbalance inherent in the content that gives the lie to the claim that this is responsible investigative journalism. In giving viewers an incomplete narrative, they have been left with a distorted picture of the truth, without which it is impossible to reach balanced and reasoned conclusions."
By way of illustration, Mr. Hewitt drew attention to the remarks of the spokesman from the US Treasury, interviewed by reporter John Ware, who expressed his purported "bewilderment" at the Charity Commission's 2003 decision to unfreeze Interpal's accounts in the wake of the Bush administration's designation of Interpal as a "terrorist entity". What the programme completely failed to point out, however, was that the Charity Commission did at the time give the US Treasury ample opportunity to provide evidence for its decision to brand Interpal as a "terrorist entity", but the US authorities were unable and unwilling to do so.
Mr. Hewitt also pointed out that the Trustees did not decline to be interviewed for the programme, as alleged by John Ware. One of the Trustees gave many hours of his time to Mr. Ware's questioning off-camera, but the BBC refused to agree to Interpal's request that any such interview should be shown in full and live, or recorded as live, and not subject to what the Trustees feared would be selective and unbalanced editing. These fears arose out of a similarly unbalanced and controversial edition of Panorama concerning the Muslim Council of Britain, which was broadcast last year and was produced by the same BBC team, giving rise to fears throughout the Muslim community as to the unfair and unrepresentative manner in which these programmes are researched and reported. Last night's broadcast demonstrated that these fears remain well-founded.
In closing, Mr. Hewitt said, "All charities working in war zones face attempts to drag them into the political arena, and Interpal is no exception. This is not the first time that we have been accused of unlawful activity and it will probably not be the last, and the allegations contained in the Panorama programme are nothing new. Only last year, the Trustees of Interpal won an out-of-court libel settlement from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, despite the Board of Deputies committing vast financial resources to the litigation and garnering support from Israel and the USA.
Accusations such as those contained in the Panorama programme should not divert us from the very real humanitarian needs of Palestinians and our entirely lawful efforts to alleviate their suffering. As we have made clear repeatedly, Interpal is politically neutral in the collection and distribution of funds as is required by Charity Commission guidelines governing the operation of charities in this country. In addition, as a charity committed to relieving hardship and suffering, we have never supported ‑ and will never support - any terrorism or illegal activities. We will continue to cooperate fully with the UK authorities ‑ including the Charity Commission ‑ in any enquiries they may wish to raise with us and to grant them unfettered access to our records, as we have always done to-date."
This matter is now in the hands of Interpal's legal advisers, Carter-Ruck.
Last modified: Wednesday, August 2, 2006
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More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
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The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
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This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
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Make a note in your diary
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Previous stories
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