Pro-Palestinian Group: Complaints Against BBC Panorama Programme are Upheld http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9936&Itemid=61

Sarah Colborne, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has been closely involved in the complaints process, said: “This has been a long and not entirely transparent process, with the BBC changing the goalposts along the way and setting sudden deadlines.”She added ” However, the BBC needed to be brought to account for making a programme that was shocking in its inaccuracy and impartiality. Israeli commandos attacked unarmed civilians in international waters and, if Panorama had used the information available in the autopsies and reported on the mistreatment of other passengers, then the full extent of Israel's aggression would have been made clear.”

Ms Colborne also called for the complaints process to be freed from BBC control. She said: “We need the appointment of an independent adjudicator to examine complaints against the BBC and make sure the organisation learns from its transgressions. This will never happen while the BBC is its own judge and jury.”

The committee found that the Panorama team had failed to make use of autopsies showing how nine Turkish aid workers on board the largest boat in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, were killed by Israeli commandos and the level of violence used against them, even though this was fundamental in considering the motives of Israel in storming the boat. The decision of the Committee to rule against the other points of complaint underlined why an independent, external complaints process is essential.It also found that the programme should not have dismissed medicines being carried on the Mavi Marmara as out of date, which suggested the rest of the aid was worthless, and that it failed to mention other valuable aid that was being carried.