FIVE hundred professionals from the film, television, and media industries, including Gary Lineker, Ruth Negga, Juliet Stevenson, and Miriam Margolyes, have urged the BBC to reinstate its documentary on Palestinian children and young people in Gaza, calling it an ‘essential piece of journalism’.
The documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was removed from BBC iPlayer following what the broadcaster described as a ‘due diligence’ review.
The move came after it was revealed that the film’s 14-year-old narrator is the son of a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to BBC executives Samir Shah, Tim Davie, and Charlotte Moore, the signatories defended the documentary’s importance, stating that it ‘offers an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians’.
The letter criticised attempts to discredit the documentary, arguing that they are based on ‘racist assumptions and weaponisation of identity’.
It stated that the narrator’s father, a civil servant responsible for food production, should not be automatically deemed complicit in violence.
‘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,’ the letter added.
The UK government designated Hamas’s military wing as a terrorist organisation in 2006 and extended this designation to its political wing in 2021.
However, the letter pointed out that Gaza’s civil service includes individuals who are not politically affiliated, some of whom worked in administrative roles before Hamas assumed control of the territory.
Concerns were also raised over the treatment of Abdullah, the documentary’s teenage narrator, with the letter condemning what it described as the unethical targeting of a child.
‘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,’ it stated.
The documentary, produced by the independent company Hoyo Films, was based on nine months of footage filmed in the lead-up to the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
It follows the experiences of three Palestinian children living under Israeli bombardment.
Bafta-winning director Jasleen Kaur Sethi, a signatory of the letter, stressed the duty of documentary-makers to protect vulnerable subjects.
‘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,’ she said.
The letter’s signatories include actors Khalid Abdalla and India Amarteifio, novelist Max Porter, director Ken Loach, photographer Misan Harriman, comedian Jen Brister, presenter Ayo Akinwolere, and writer-actor Asim Chaudhry.
Ten current BBC staff members are also understood to have signed.
Occupied West Bank is a battlefield
The occupied West Bank has become a ‘battlefield’ as Israel extends its genocidal campaign from Gaza, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Lazzarini stated on X on Wednesday that the Israeli regime’s actions in the West Bank reflect an alarming expansion of its assault on Gaza.
He warned that the violence, destruction, and displacement of Palestinians have escalated in the occupied territory.
‘Destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing of roads, and severe access restrictions are commonplace,’ he said.
‘People’s lives have been turned upside down, bringing back traumas and loss. Around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.’
The aggression, which began five weeks ago, has already claimed the lives of over 50 Palestinians, including children, Lazzarini confirmed.
