The BBC has been accused of turning itself right into a Hamas propaganda platform by airing a documentary in regards to the Gaza Strip on Monday narrated by the son of a Hamas minister.
The hour-long documentary, “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone,” was broadcast on Feb. 17.
It adopted the battle via the eyes of three kids.
It was narrated by Abdullah, 14, who’s listed within the movie’s credit as Abdullah al-Yazouri.
Abdullah’s father seems to be Ayman Alyazouri, deputy minister of agriculture within the Hamas-run authorities.
The kid’s household ties weren’t revealed to viewers, The Telegraph reported.
Alyazouri’s social media options a number of references to his son Abdullah or “Aboud,” the London-based paper mentioned.
In January 2024, Alyazouri posted {a photograph} of a younger boy who seems to be Abdullah with the phrases, “Aboud… May God protect him.”
Labour In opposition to Antisemitism filed a proper grievance with the BBC, saying that it had uncared for to test the background of the documentary’s individuals.
“This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the BBC, with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers’ expense,” mentioned Alex Hearn, director of Labour In opposition to Antisemitism.
“Misinformation is the story of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and this is not an isolated case. There has been a failure of news platforms to adequately scrutinize sources and a willingness to regurgitate Hamas disinformation repeatedly,” Hearn continued. “There needs to be an urgent investigation into how this happened once again.”
Investigative journalist David Collier, who was the primary to show the controversial nature of the movie, questioned how the filmmakers, and significantly the 2 native cameramen, couldn’t have identified of Abdullah’s household ties.
“The two photographers followed these children around for months. They absolutely knew who he was. Did either of the producers?” Collier requested. “How did the BBC let a son of a Hamas minister walk around looking for sympathy and demonizing Israel for an hour in a BBC documentary?”
A BBC spokesman defended the movie, saying it “was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and the BBC had full editorial control,” and that “the children’s parents did not have any editorial input.”
Collier instructed JNS: “It is about time that the BBC understood that the only organization that has editorial control over what we see come out of Gaza is Hamas. This latest failing is perhaps the worst yet. There needs to be an urgent investigation into how the BBC is continually getting all this so badly wrong.”
Danny Cohen, a former BBC govt who has mentioned that there’s an “institutional crisis” on the nationwide broadcaster and known as for an impartial inquiry into its Gaza warfare protection, instructed The Telegraph that the most recent revelations confirmed his fears that the broadcaster dangers changing into a Hamas shill.
“This appears to be another appalling example of journalistic failure and anti-Israel bias,” he mentioned. “Questions must be asked as to whether the BBC carried out the most basic journalistic checks.”
He added: “License fee payers across the U.K. are being repeatedly conned into paying for Hamas PR. There can be no doubt now that the BBC has a very serious problem with the quality of its journalism and anti-Israel bias.”
Abdullah, the kid featured within the documentary, appeared in an earlier BBC report. In November 2023, he could be seen speaking in regards to the destruction in Gaza whereas escorted by Khalil Abu Shamala, a person who was introduced to viewers as his father, however who in actuality seems to be his uncle.
Evidently Shamala is the previous director of Al Dameer, an NGO that leads campaigns in help of Palestinian prisoners.
“Al Dameer is highly active in promoting BDS campaigns, lobbying international bodies, and utilizing highly inflammatory rhetoric,” Jerusalem-based watchdog group NGO-Monitor stories on its web site.
Al Dameer has ties to the Common Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a chosen terrorist group in the USA, European Union, Canada, and Israel.
