Tim Davie,
Director-General BBC
BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
W1A 1AA
London
United Kingdom
Dear Tim,
We are writing to convey our concern on the decision to remove “How to Survive a Warzone” from the BBC streaming service, BBC iPlayer. This film was an insightful look at Gaza through the eyes of children at a time where the suffering of the people of Gaza has been unprecedented.
This was a decision taken on the basis on editorial balance and transparency, but this does not take into account the fact that the young narrator’s alleged links to Hamas were added at the beginning of the documentary nor the fact that it seems like his father was a technocrat/civil servant with specific agricultural expertise . He has never been cited as part of the political or military decision-making processes of Hamas. The fact that this documentary was completely taken down, instead of merely keeping those details in, amounts – to our view – a form of censorship.
Will the BBC also confirm as a matter of consistency that if any Israeli is interviewed all proper checks will be made in future to ensure that that person is not a member or a relative of anyone within the four settler groups that the UK government proscribed, namely - Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, Hashomer Yosh, Torat Lechima, and Amana?
We also note that far from being a piece of pro-Hamas propaganda as alleged by anti-Palestinian groups, the documentary contained significant criticism of Hamas from Palestinians in Gaza throughout. Within the first minutes, one Palestinian woman exclaimed: “God damn you [Yahya] Sinwar,” refer ring to the late Hamas leader. A Palestinian man cried: “They killed our children, killed our women, while Sinwar is hiding under the ground.” Another Palestinian woman remembered how people celebrated on 7 October but admitted: “If we had known this would happen to us, no one would have celebrated.” One of the child narrators, 11-year-old Zakaria, blamed Hamas: “They caused all this misery.”
The programme made little reference to the politics and the rights and wrongs of the parties to the conflict but was an invaluable insight into life in a war zone for children who make up over half of the population of the strip.
Additionally, we are requesting to know the extent to which the Israeli government was involved in this decision. The Israeli ambassador – who has rejected any Palestinian state, and even denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, – had written to the BBC to complain about this documentary. Can the BBC confirm whether anyone at the BBC had a meeting with the Ambassador or an Israeli government representative about this documentary?
With regards to the British government, can the BBC also reassure us that it will stand up against any form of government interference in editorial decision making on this?
Finally, and perhaps most pertinently, we would like to convey our dismay at the lack of duty of care that is given to the Palestinian children here, arguably used by the BBC in Gaza. The BBC guideline on child safeguarding itself states that “We must take due care over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of under-18s who take part or are otherwise involved in our editorial content, irrespective of any consent given by them or by a parent, guardian or other person acting in loco parentis”. Regardless of the child’s background, it is completely unfair for a child to be at the centre of a social media furore without protection and due care from the BBC. Did the BBC put any measures in place to protect this child from bullying from powerful people, and social media smears, as outlined in the BBC guidelines? What representations have been made to ensure that a target is not put on his head by the Israeli army? Any child would be disappointed to find out in such a way that their work would be discredited, but for it to be on a world stage without care measures put in place would be a major derelict of duty from the BBC, as well as a continuation of the dehumanisation of Palestinians, including children, that has become increasingly prevalent over the last 17 months.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Kind regards,
Chris Doyle
Director
Council of the Advancement of Arab British Understanding
