BBC HQ occupied in Scotland

Posted on By 3arabawy

BBC occupation 25.01.2009

Via Lenin’s Tomb:

Over 100 supporters of Scottish Stop the War Coalition and Palestinian groups have occupied the BBC headquarters in Glasgow. They say they will not end their occupation until the BBC has reversed its decision not to broadcast an emergency aid appeal for Gaza. The protesters are demanding to meet with a senior representative of the BBC.

And as for Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director general who refused to broadcast the appeal, it turns out he “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.”

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Comments (3)

  2. Hi there
    Keep the resistance going. Solidarity from here in Scotland. Check out this footage from the occupation at the BBC in Scotland.

    Videos from inside the occupation at – http://uk.youtube.com/user/aalhia10
    Pictures at – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gphrc-palestine/sets/72157612985084878/show/

    Additional information:
    WORLD-WIDE COVERAGE OF OUR OCCUPATION OF BBC SCOTLAND HEADQUARTERS
    Over 100 people participated in an occupation of the BBC Scotland headquarters on Sunday, demanding that the broadcaster show the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza. Occupiers entered the building at 5pm, and despite the police threatening mass arrests to remove everyone within 15 minutes, the occupation remained for almost 4 hours.
    The occupation was successful in applying additional pressure on the BBC through extensive national and international media coverage, including front-page coverage in the Metro as well as coverage on CNN and CBS. It was announced live on Channel 4 news as well as on Sky TV. Al-Jazeera Arabic ran a live telephone interview from the occupation, and Press TV will today interview Strathclyde University media expert Professor David Miller. Another Iranian television station rang Stop the War at 4:30am to do an interview, and the story was the third item on their morning news bulletin.
    Tony Benn also telephoned the occupation to offer his support, saying ‘The decision to occupy the BBC in Glasgow must be understood as a plea for the people of Gaza, who are suffering so much and who need our help to help get the money through’.
    A delegation from the occupation was elected to meet with Ian Small, Head of Public Policy & Corporate Affairs and member of the BBC’s Executive Board, who was called in specially to meet with the occupiers. The BBC agreed that it will arrange a meeting with the delegation with Ken McQuarrie, the Controller of the BBC Scotland, and Atholl Duncan, the head of news for BBC Scotland on Wednesday the 28th of January. Glasgow Stop the War Coalition is asking its supporters and those who support humanitarian aid to Gaza to gather outside the BBC on Wednesday at 4.30pm.
    Protestors also promised to return unless the DEC appeal is aired. Glasgow Stop the War also called for others to take similar actions around the UK.
    All the occupiers decided to leave the building together, and no arrests were made. By that time, television cameras from SKY TV, BBC, and GMTV had arrived, as well as a reporter from the Daily Record. Numerous interviews were also conducted by telephone from inside the occupation.
    Videos from inside the occupation at – http://uk.youtube.com/user/aalhia10
    Pictures at – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gphrc-palestine/sets/72157612985084878/show/
    BBC staff protest over gaza aid appeal – ‘fury’ at the news desk meeting.
    https://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/26/bbc-staff-protest-over-gaza-aid-appeal
    Unions protest over BBC and Sky’s Gaza appeal ban
    https://web.archive.org/web/20120708043910/http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1089

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