{"id":119545,"date":"2025-03-01T17:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=119545"},"modified":"2025-03-01T11:53:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T09:53:37","slug":"01-00-96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=119545","title":{"rendered":"BBC Apologizes for \u2018Unacceptable\u2019 Mistakes With Gaza Documentary, Admits Palestinian Interviewees\u2019 Ties to Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>BBC Apologizes for \u2018Unacceptable\u2019 Mistakes With Gaza Documentary, Admits Palestinian Interviewees\u2019 Ties to Hamas<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic \/ SOPA Images\/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday apologized for \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201cserious flaws\u201d during the filming of a documentary about Palestinian children living in the Gaza Strip.<\/span><\/p>\n

The admission came after\u00a0the BBC removed the documentary<\/a>, titled \u201cGaza: How to Survive a Warzone,\u201d from its iPlayer streaming platform on Feb. 21 when it was discovered that the film\u2019s 13-year-old Palestinian narrator (now 14), Abdullah Al-Yazouri, was the son of a senior Hamas official.<\/span><\/p>\n

The documentary was also taken down after it was revealed that two of the cameramen who worked on the BBC documentary had voiced support for Hamas, and following revelations about inaccurate translations in the film that masked the antisemitism of some participants. Examples of the latter issue include\u00a0mistranslations in the film<\/a>\u00a0that refer to Hamas terrorists as an \u201carmy\u201d and \u201cjihad against the Jews\u201d as \u201cresistance against the Israelis,\u201d according to Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British volunteer-based charity.\u00a0The<\/i>\u00a0Telegraph\u00a0<\/i>cited at least five instances in the film where the Arabic word for \u201cJew\u201d\u2014 \u201cYahud\u201d<\/em>\u00a0or \u201cYahudy\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 was mistranslated as \u201cIsrael\u201d or \u201cIsraeli forces,\u201d or removed altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

The BBC has also now admitted that licensing fee payments were given to the family of Al-Yazouri, who is the son of Hamas\u2019s Deputy Minister of Agriculture Dr. Ayman Al-Yazouri. Pro-Israel researcher David Collier said the father and son come from the same family as Hamas founder Ibrahim Al-Yazouri. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by both the United Kingdom and United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, sent an e-mail to staff on Thursday that included a statement about the documentary, remarks which were publicly shared on Friday by a BBC spokesperson.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the statement, the BBC\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0it takes complete editorial responsibility for the film and admitted that the corporation and Hoyo Films, the production company behind the documentary, have made \u201cunacceptable\u201d flaws in the making of the documentary. \u201cBBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation\u2019s reputation. We apologize for this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The spokesperson added that the BBC was not informed in advance by Hoyo Films about Abdullah\u2019s family connection to Hamas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the production process, the independent production company was asked in writing a number of times by the BBC about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas,\u201d the corporation explained. \u201cSince transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy\u2019s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact. It was then the BBC\u2019s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoyo Films told the corporation that it paid Abdullah\u2019s mother \u201ca limited sum of money\u201d for narrating the film by way of his sister\u2019s bank account, according to the BBC. Hoyo Films \u201cassured BBC\u201d no payments were given to Hamas members or its affiliates \u201ceither directly, in kind, or as a gift,\u201d and the corporation is \u201cseeking additional assurance\u201d about the film\u2019s budget. The BBC said it will initiate a full audit of the film\u2019s expenses and is asking Hoyo Films for financial accounts to help with the audit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The BBC said the controversy surrounding the documentary had \u201cdamaged\u201d public trust in the corporation\u2019s journalism, and that \u201cthe processes and execution of this program fell short of our expectations.\u201d The BBC also has \u201cno plans to broadcast the program again in its current form or return it to iPlayer.\u201d It added that it launched a review into the film, an initiative that the BBC Board discussed on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hoyo Films said it is working with the BBC to \u201chelp understand where mistakes have been made.\u201d The production company added, \u201cWe feel this remains an important story to tell, and that our contributors \u2013 who have no say in the war \u2013 should have their voices heard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A separate statement from the BBC Board added, \u201cThe subject matter of the documentary was clearly a legitimate area to explore, but nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. While the board appreciates that mistakes can be made, the mistakes here are significant and damaging to the BBC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The CAA said on Friday the grave errors carried out by the BBC in connection to the documentary should result in resignations and a police investigation. The charity also called for an independent investigation into bias at the BBC and said pending the results of the investigation, the license fee should be suspended to stop additional funds from going to Abdullah\u2019s family, and potentially Hamas. \u201cHundreds of people are contacting us telling us that they refuse to pay the license fee until they can be sure that the BBC is trustworthy,\u201d the charity said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the CAA called BBC \u201ca national treasure [that] has become a national embarrassment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe BBC has now admitted that license fee funds were paid to the family of a senior Hamas official. It has not yet been able to rule out that further payments to Hamas were made as it continues to investigate where hundreds of thousands of pounds went,\u201d the spokesperson noted. \u201cThe BBC\u2019s statement is an exercise in desperate damage control and shows why an internal review is no substitute for an independent investigation into this documentary and the wider bias at the BBC that allowed it to be made and aired. Clearly those responsible must lose their jobs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unconscionable that the British public should have to pay a license fee to an organization that gives that money to proscribed terrorists,\u201d the spokesperson added. \u201cIt represents a shocking double standard in our law. Pending an independent investigation, the license fee must be suspended.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During a press conference on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the secretary of state has had a meeting with the BBC regarding the documentary. On Friday, British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she was going to have an \u201curgent meeting\u201d with BBC Chairman Samir Shah that same day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want assurances that no stone will be left unturned by the fact-finding review now commissioned by the BBC\u2019s director general,\u201d Nandy said. \u201cThis review must be comprehensive, rigorous, and get to the bottom of exactly what has happened in this case. It is critical for trust in the BBC that this review happens quickly, and that appropriate action is taken on its findings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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BBC Apologizes for \u2018Unacceptable\u2019 Mistakes With Gaza Documentary, Admits Palestinian Interviewees\u2019 Ties to Hamas Shiryn Ghermezian The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic \/ SOPA Images\/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Thursday apologized for \u201cunacceptable\u201d and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119545"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119560,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119545\/revisions\/119560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}