THE BBC faces demands from a group of 500 TV stars and media professionals to reinstate a documentary about young people in Gaza after it was pulled by the broadcaster.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was removed from iPlayer after it emerged the 14-year-old narrator of the film was the son of a minister of agriculture in the territory’s government, which is run by Hamas.
Signatories to BBC chiefs Samir Shah, Tim Davie and Charlotte Moore described the film as an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians”, The Guardian reports.
They include outgoing Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker (below), Ruth Negga, Juliet Stevenson and Miriam Margolyes.
The letter also expressed concern that criticism of the documentary, based on nine months of footage shining a light on life in the devastated territory before the ceasefire with Israel, was based on “racist assumptions and weaponisation of identity”.
It also argued that the narrator Abdullah’s father is not a political figure but a civil servant. There are civil servants in Gaza whose work is non-political, some of whom worked for the territory’s government before Hamas took over.
Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government and the European Union.
The letter added: “This broad-brush rhetoric assumes that Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence – a racist trope that denies individuals their humanity and right to share their lived experiences.”
Signatories argued that criticism levelled against Abdullah disregarded “core safeguarding principles”, adding that children “must not be held responsible for the actions of adults, and weaponising family associations to discredit a child’s testimony is both unethical and dangerous”.
Bafta-winning director Jasleen Kaur Sethi, who signed the letter, added: “At the heart of this film are children surviving a war zone and as documentary-makers we have a sacrosanct duty to protect them. The campaign to discredit this film has dehumanised them and shamefully risked putting their lives and safety in danger.”
Other signatories included actor Khalid Abdalla, the Bridgerton star India Amarteifio, the novelist Max Porter, the director Ken Loach (above), the photographer Misan Harriman, the comedian Jen Brister, the presenter Ayo Akinwolere and the writer and actor Asim Chaudhry. The Guardian reported that 10 current BBC staff have also signed.
Last week, the BBC received a letter from 45 prominent Jewish journalists and members of the media demanding the programme be censored.
They included former BBC One controller Danny Cohen, the former BBC governor Ruth Deech, the EastEnders actor Tracy-Ann Oberman and the Strike producer Neil Blair.
Board of Deputies of British Jews director Phil Rosenberg claimed the BBC had taken a “credulous” approach to Hamas.
