The BBC came under fire after featuring a child narrator in its latest documentary with alleged familial ties to Hamas, according to international media reports.
The documentary, titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, tells the story of four Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
Investigative journalist David Collier alleged that 13-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri is related to a senior Hamas official.Adding to the controversy, al-Yazouri allegedly appeared in a Channel 4 documentary in 2023 but under the name Abdullah Abu Shamala.
In the 2023 documentary, the teenager appeared alongside a man presented as his father - a man identified by Collier as Khalil Abushammla, a former director of anti-Israel NGO Al-Dameer. Al-Dameer has been accused of having links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Al-Yazouri’s real father is alleged by Collier to be Khalil’s brother-in-law Ayman Al-Yazouri, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Hamas government in Gaza.
Collier decried the documentary as “propaganda” and “biased” for its alleged failure to disclose the connections of the teen.
Concerns over bias in BBC reporting
Former BBC governor Baroness Deech told the Jewish Chronicle, “I watched the BBC programme on Gaza and wondered how it could be made impartially given that it was being recorded by people inside Gaza whose independence must surely depend on Hamas.
“There was no mention of the fate of the hostages, a peaceful coexisting future, or any agreement with Israel; and, of course, focusing on charming and articulate children (which they were) is bound to affect the emotions rather than inviting scrutiny.
“The immediate plight of the Gazans is indeed awful,l but so is the long-term situation for hostages, Israel, and its fighters, and there must be no equivalence.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, a documentary showing the conflict through the eyes of three children in Gaza, was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines, and the BBC had full editorial control. The film told the children’s own stories, showing viewers their direct experiences of living through a war, and the children’s parents did not have any editorial input.
“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.”