Criticism of the BBC Gaza dispute in a "balanced, objective way", and was concerned about endorsing something that could "suggest the backing one side". Politicians such as Tony Benn broke the corporation's ban on the appeal and broadcast the Gaza appeal on BBC News, saying that "If the BBC won't broadcast the appeal, then I'm going to do it myself", and adding that "no one [working for the broadcaster] agrees with what the BBC has done". Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, protested the BBC's decision by cancelling interviews scheduled with the company; ElBaradei claimed the refusal to air the aid
BBC controversies doubts about the possibility of delivering aid in a volatile situation and highlighted the need to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story. Because of a lack of consensus among UK broadcasters, with British Sky Broadcasting announcing it would follow the BBC's view, TV channels in the UK initially decided not to broadcast the appeal., A public demonstration occurred outside Broadcasting House on 24 January with former cabinet minister Tony Benn attacking the decision in an interview on BBC News 24 during which he read out the appeal