Top Anglican priest raps BBC: Gaza appeal is not 'Hamas asking for arms'

The Anglican Church's number two in Britain added his voice Sunday to calls for the BBC to reverse its decision not to broadcast a funds plea for the people of the Gaza Strip.

"This is not an appeal by Hamas asking for arms but by the Disasters Emergency Committee asking for relief. By declining their request, the BBC has already taken sides and forsaken impartiality," the Archbishop of York John Sentamu said.

The BBC says its impartiality and objectivity would be endangered by appearing to take sides with the victims of the recent Israeli military offensive. Rival channels ITV, Channel 4 and Five have all changed their minds and are to broadcast the plea.

The funds plea - issued by the Disasters Emergency Committees comprising high-profile charity organizations including Oxfam and the British red Cross - aims to alleviate what Development Aid Minister Douglas Alexander called the "immense suffering" in the Gaza Strip.

Alexander called on the broadcasters to reverse their decision, while anti-war demonstrators called on supporters to demonstrate outside the BBC London headquarters.