Why don't Africans matter to the BBC?

I have blogged before about the disproportional coverage the BBC give to every minor Israel/Palestinian story when compared to the coverage they allocate to African stories. I was reminded of this when I cam across this piece that revealed that:

'More than 300 men, women and children were raped during a four-day assault by rebel militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, double the number first reported, the United Nations said yesterday. '

Quite a big story, yet it is not even referenced from the BBC's main news page. Imagine the wall to wall coverage if the Israeli army had been found guilty of just one rape of a Palestinian...

Here's something I wrote on this matter last year:

'"What are these numbers?

5.4 million

400,000

65,000

3,400

1,000


Any ideas?


Well:
5.4 million is the number of people killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo since a 1998 civil war began. That war continues today despite numerous peace treaties.

400,000 is the number of people killed in the Darfur region of the Sudan since a 2003 outbreak of violence between the government-backed Janjaweed militias and the secular "rebels" of the region. Approximately 100 additional people were killed there a few of weeks ago. Fighting continues in Darfur today.

65,000 is the number of Sri Lankans killed since the late 1980s, most of which have been civilians. During the war in Gaza, the Sri Lankan government forces overran the last stronghold of the Tamil Tigers -- a group considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government -- at the expense of dozens of civilians. Approximately 50,000 government troops are currently advancing through the jungle, taking aim at the rebels.

3,400 is a conservative estimate of the number of Palestinians killed by the Jordanian government in the span of 11 days during the Black September Jordanian civil war of 1970. Palestinian estimates claimed more than 20,000 dead.

1,000 is the number of Palestinians killed as of Jan. 15 in Israel's current war of self-defense against Hamas, the vast majority of which have been terrorists.


Yet it is Israel that is condemned by the U.N., the Vatican, and the rest of the world. It is Jews that are attacked all over Europe."'

So what accounts for the disparity of coverage by the BBC? Do the BBC not care about African & Tamil lives as much as Palestinians? Do the BBC have an anti-Israel agenda that supersedes the rights of others?