BBC’s Debate Night faced a protest over its failure to discuss Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza as it filmed from south Scotland on Wednesday evening.
Video shared with The National by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign shows an activist in the audience calling down to host Stephen Jardine and the panel amid a discussion on the questions that were addressed on the show.
The BBC show had been broadcasting from Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders, and the clip shows Jardine saying: “When we come back next time – we did it the last time we were here – we did a Borders railway extension question, we’ll definitely do it next time.”
Then, activist Kimberley Davidson, calls down: “And no question on the 400 people who were murdered by Israel last night? Nothing about that?
“Nothing about the 174 children who were killed by Israel in Gaza last night? Nothing, silence.”
Jardine responded that the questions asked are based on “what most people want to talk about, in the audience.”
“Well, is that not a shame in itself?” Davidson responds in the video.
Jardine says “that’s your view”, before wrapping up a post-show audience debrief.
In a video recorded later, Davidson tells the camera: “I am just out of the BBC's Debate Night where not one of the questions that they asked had anything to do with the genocide and 400 people who were slaughtered in the last 24 hours, not one.
“There was a girl in the audience who managed to get a question in [which mentioned the genocide in Palestine].
“The Labour guy [MP Zubir Ahmed] sat there and talked about how proud we should be of our Prime Minister. Just absolutely disgusting, absolutely disgusting.
“Shame on the BBC, shame on everyone who sat there and talked about war and said nothing about the genocide.”
Writing about the incident on Instagram, the Borders branch of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “Tonight the @bbcscotland @bbcdebatenight continued in its tradition of complicity in the Gaza genocide. Failing to take even one of the 20+ questions put forward from the audience in Galashiels.
“Well done to the audience member who reminded the forgetful panellists and presenter of the ongoing genocide, who were keen to discuss war in Europe but less inclined to discuss the children of Gaza who are paying for the UK government’s complicity in Israel’s crimes with their limbs, and lives.
“Keep speaking up. Never let them forget.
“Don’t forget you can complain to the BBC regarding their coverage and/or lack of.”
It comes after Israel broke the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, blaming Hamas for refusing to change the agreed upon conditions.
Heavy bombing resumed earlier this week and has since since hundreds of people, including women, children and UN workers, killed.
More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday alone, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. There have been no reports of Hamas firing rockets or carrying out other attacks, according to AP.
On Wednesday, Israeli ground troops advanced in Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire took hold in January, seizing part of a corridor separating the northern third of the territory from the south.
Israel, which has also cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly two million Palestinians, has vowed to intensify its operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds – 35 of whom are believed dead – and gives up control of the territory. The Trump administration in the US, which took credit for brokering the ceasefire, says it fully supports Israel.
