Gaza. Not that proof were needed but Israel is the facistic bully it wanted to get away from. But then that’s what Paolo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ describes as happening – once the oppressed get out from under the only model they have of how to behave when no longer oppressed is to oppress themselves. So yes the BBC should have shown the appeal for the Palestinians and if they had wanted to square it with the powers that be they could have introduced the appeal thus ‘As the US continues to fill the Israeli begging cup to overflowing without even being asked, here is an appeal to redress the balance the tiniest bit…’.

And i didn’t give and won’t. Not in response to that appeal anyway, now very highly publicised because of the BBC’s refusal to shopw it. And we know what Machiavelli would have said, the old cynic. As i have explained before, the wodge i give every month goes to a wide variety of charities, some of whom may never have been heard of by 99% of the population. So if i divert my cash to an appeal which has many people digging deep who don’t give all the time, then those other charities will lose out. That said i have given to Palestine before and will again even tho the pleasure of thinking Bush & Blair would be upset is diminished a little…

And i give realising that my lot as a female would be rather better in Israel than in Palestine. How did the song go ‘I, think i’d better think it out again.

The Guardian tells me that charity shops are desparate for goods. Always have a bag waiting to be filled for the, maybe. monthly run to the North London Hospice Shop.I give to them as charity begins at home, and also they have reasonable prices. So now i see why Oxfam & Cancer Care and the British Heart Foundation charge so much – to discourage us from buying so the shelves and racks won’t look so bare. Shows how much i’m still in touch with my inner impoverished student that i look at stuff and think ‘blimey, have they forgotten this was given to them’. I know the money goes to good causes – duh – but i would buy more if prices reflected the fact that goods are donated.

Also in the Grauniad, a piece mentioning how charity donations have gone down as charity costs have gone up. So again my point is that charities have to tell me why my money should go to them and not another charity. This is no time to be fluffy. Finish this sentence for me ‘We deserve your money as we are the only charity which…….’. If you do not have a USP then you should not be going it alone. Team up with the other charity which does what you do and you can halve admin costs, need less vollies (think how much you’ll save on Hob Nobs!), and so on.

A bientot

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