The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella group of UK charities that swing into action when needed to raise urgently needed money.

At the moment they have launched an appeal for Gaza - you can donate online here courtesy of a secure online payment page provided by BT.

I've listened to the BBC defending its decision not to televise an appeal for this. They claim it would damage public confidence in their impartial coverage of the conflict.

Well - no. The public can tell the difference between a news broadcast and an appeal for help by a charity - we're not daft. Broadcasting an appeal is not taking sides - it's about saving lives.

If anything it's damaged my confidence in the BBC's humanity.

Possibly the national uproar over this will create more interest than the appeal itself would have - let's hope so. And I expect they will cave in and broadcast an appeal in time.

Also I'm pleased to see the BBC news site seems to have no problem with placing a link direct to the DEC web site on their stories.