UK police probe controversial BBC Gaza documentary

BBC documentary on the Gaza war featured Hamas leader’s son and intentionally mistranslated Gazan civilians to conceal antisemitism.

By World Israel News Staff

London police are probing a BBC documentary on the Gaza war for possible wrongdoing, following a wave of complaints against the film.

The BBC first aired the film, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, on February 17, but just three days later, it dropped the documentary from its video-on-demand service, BBC iPlayer. Critics lambasted the film’s producers for whitewashing Hamas by largely ignoring the terror group’s atrocities by intentionally mistranslating comments by local Gazans to obscure their antisemitism and selecting the son of a senior Hamas official as a narrator.

The film’s pro-Hamas bias, marking the latest in a long list of Israel-related controversies for the British national broadcaster, not only provided fodder for the BBC’s critics but also raised serious questions regarding the possible misappropriation of taxpayer funds.

Last Friday, the BBC apologized for the film, acknowledging “serious flaws” in its production.

The broadcast vowed “it has no plans to broadcast the program again in its current form or return it to iPlayer.”

Following a meeting of the BBC Board, the broadcaster pinned some of the blame on the production company Hoyo Films. “Some of these were made by the production company, and some by the BBC; all of them are unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize for this.”

Of particular concern is the possibility that BBC funds may have been disbursed to Gazans linked to the Hamas terror organization – including the family of film narrator Abdullah al-Yazouri, whose father, Ayman Alyazouri, serves as deputy minister of agriculture in Hamas de facto government in Gaza.

“Hoyo Films have told us that they paid the boy’s mother, via his sister’s bank account, a limited sum of money for the narration,” the BBC said.

“While Hoyo Films have assured us that no payments were made to members of Hamas or its affiliates, either directly, in kind, or as a gift, the BBC is seeking additional assurance around the budget of the program and will undertake a full audit of expenditure. We are requesting the relevant financial accounts of the production company in order to do that.”

The London Metropolitan Police’s counter-terror force has already launched a preliminary probe into the matter, a spokesperson said Friday, to determine whether a criminal investigation into the BBC is necessary.

“We’re aware of a BBC documentary about Gaza and we have received a number of reports raising concerns,” the spokesperson said. “Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter.”