Artists for Palestine ‘appalled’ at BBC pulling Gaza documentary

A PRO-Palestinian network of artists today said it is appalled at the BBC for caving into a politicised campaign to stop it airing a documentary on Gaza.

Artists for Palestine UK criticised the public broadcaster for swallowing “misleading” claims after it said a review had uncovered serious flaws in the making of the Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone documentary by the independent production company Hoyo Films.

The BBC removed the documentary after it emerged that the child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Gaza’s deputy minister of agriculture in the besieged strip run by Hamas.

The broadcaster said that it has no plans to schedule it again or return it to iPlayer and that Hoyo Films had told them the boy’s mother had been paid “a limited sum of money for the narration.”

A BBC spokesperson acknowledged its “failing” to uncover for itself the link between the boy’s father and Hamas.

Artists for Palestine UK said: “We are appalled that the BBC has chosen to give credence to a politicised campaign that sought to discredit a documentary about children’s experiences of unspeakable Israeli military violence because one child’s father was deputy agriculture minister in Gaza.

“This disgraceful decision comes despite nearly 900 media figures having warned the BBC of the dangers of such an approach.

“Reports over the last week have detailed Israel’s detention and torture of hundreds of Gaza’s medical workers.

“The world has seen images of traumatised and emaciated Palestinian captives emerging from Israeli jails, some with limbs amputated.

“Rather than adequately reporting on these horrors, the BBC is instead removing a documentary about children in Gaza because of misleading claims about the identity of one child’s parent.”

Shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew had said that public funds had “indirectly supported a terrorist organisation.”

On Tuesday, pro-Israel protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House in London claiming the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.

But the BBC also faced criticism for pulling the documentary from hundreds of media figures including Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes condemning the “politically motivated censorship” in an open letter.

Hoyo Films said that it is “co-operating fully with the BBC… to help understand where mistakes have been made.

“We feel this remains an important story to tell, and that our contributors — who have no say in the war — should have their voices heard.”