BBC accused of spouting Hamas propaganda in new documentary
The BBC faced questions last night after it was accused of ‘blindly spouting’ Hamas propaganda in a documentary.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the strip.
It was made by two producers based in London who remotely directed two cameramen on the ground over nine months.
Last night, independent investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators, Abdullah, is the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas’s founding members.
Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show’s young star is the son of Gaza’s deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.
This would mean his grandfather would be the Hamas founder Ibrahim al-Yazouri, who has previously been jailed by Egypt and Israel for involvement in proscribed groups.
The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify Mr Collier’s claims. He also says one of the documentary’s cameramen, Amjad Al Fayoumi, posted the phrase ‘the flood’ with a saluting emoji on Facebook on October 7, 2023, seemingly endorsing the attack.
Writing on his blog, Mr Collier said: ‘The naivety, stupidity and arrogance of our media has long been apparent. It has allowed Palestinian propagandists to turn our legacy channels into foolish outlets blindly spouting Hamas lies 24/7.’
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday on BBC Two with the aim of showing a ‘vivid and unflinching view of life’ in the strip (Pictured: BBC headquarters)
Investigative journalist David Collier claimed one of the child narrators is the son of a Hamas government minister. The Daily Mail has not been able to independently verify Mr Collier’s claims
Using Facebook and publicly available data online, Mr Collier claimed the show’s young star is the son of Gaza’s deputy minister of agriculture Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri
Last night, the former director of BBC Television Danny Cohen said: ‘The BBC appears to have given an hour of prime-time coverage to the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group.
‘Either they were not aware of the terrorist links because they did not carry out the most basic journalistic checks or the BBC did know and misled audiences about the family’s deep involvement with terrorism.’
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism added: ‘If these allegations are true then the BBC has essentially published long-form propaganda for an antisemitic genocidal terror organisation with licence-fee funds.’
A BBC spokesman responded: ‘As the BBC has previously explained, the film was edited and directed from London, as independent international journalists are not allowed into Gaza.
The film gives audiences a rare glimpse of Gaza during the war, as well as an insight into the children’s lives, it hears the voices of other Gazan civilians, several of whom voice anti-Hamas sentiments.’
Responding to the claim that a cameraman supported the October 7 massacre, they said: ‘The documentary was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and under the full editorial control of the BBC team in London.’
