British celebrities call on BBC to restore Gaza documentary
Actors and TV personalities are among those signing a petition calling for the BBC to restore a documentary on Gaza that has been pulled after complaints from pro-Israel activists.
BBC presenter Gary Lineker, as well as actors Ruth Negga, Juliet Stevenson and Miriam Margolyes, were among those demanding Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone be returned to BBC iPlayer.
Pro-Israel campaigners criticised the film after it was revealed that its 14-year-old narrator was the son of a Palestinian deputy agriculture minister.
Middle East Eye reported on Thursday that Dr Ayman Alyazouri, Gaza's deputy agriculture minister, appears to be a technocrat with a scientific background who previously worked for the United Arab Emirates government and studied at British universities.
The letter pointed out Alyazouri's position as a civil servant and said the criticism of the documentary stemmed from “racist assumptions and weaponisation of identity".
“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,” it said.
It added that the attacks on the 14-year Abdullah Alyazouri disregarded “core safeguarding principles” and said 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".
Initially, the BBC added a disclaimer at the beginning of the documentary following comments from pro-Israel researcher David Collier, who earlier this month claimed Palestinian identity was invented in the 20th century as a "weapon against Israel".
Last week a group of 45 prominent Jewish journalists and members of the media, including former BBC governor Ruth Deech, further piled on pressure by sending a letter to the broadcaster demanding the film be removed from the iPlayer.
The letter referred to the minister as a "terrorist leader". Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Britain.
But others have defended the film itself.
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, told MEE that the film had been pulled following pressure from "anti-Palestinian activists who have largely shown no sympathy for persons in Gaza suffering from massive bombardment, starvation, and disease.
"This documentary humanised Palestinian children in Gaza in a way that gave valuable insights into what life is like in this horrific warzone day in, day out," he said.
Middle East Eye propose une couverture et une analyse indépendantes et incomparables du Moyen-Orient, de l’Afrique du Nord et d’autres régions du monde. Pour en savoir plus sur la reprise de ce contenu et les frais qui s’appliquent, veuillez remplir ce formulaire [en anglais]. Pour en savoir plus sur MEE, cliquez ici [en anglais].
