Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone should be reinstated to BBC i-player

I was very disappointed to see that the excellent BBC documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, has been taken down following complaints. Here is some background to the issue.

This is what BBC i-player are currently displaying.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00285w7

So I have written to the BBC as follows and would encourage you to do likewise. Please write to

tim.davie@bbc.co.uk
press.office@bbc.co.uk
bbcyourvoice@bbc.co.uk

Dear Tim Davie,

I am often a strong critic of the BBC because you are not doing a good enough job of educating the public about the immense dangers of global heating, the dangers to food supplies and the likelihood of civilisation collapse if we do not act with urgency now to cure our addiction to fossil fuels. However, today I am writing in your defense.  

I watched Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone when it was first broadcast and thought it was an amazing and balanced documentary of the horrors that have been faced by the Palestinian people. It was innovative in using children to present the issues and notable that some were opposed to Hamas while others presumably supported them. The bravery and unwavering courage of the children, while everything around them was being destroyed by Israeli bombs was an example to us all.

The BBC’s decision to air Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone deserves unreserved praise, not unwarranted condemnation. This documentary offers a powerful, compassionate, and raw account of the suffering endured by Palestinian children throughout the past year and a half. It is a testament to the courage of the BBC to bring this vital story to global audiences. We stand by the BBC in its commitment to truth and humanity, urging the network to resist any pressure to remove or retract this documentary.

The complaints lodged by certain vocal defenders of Israel’s actions represent a thinly veiled attempt to silence a critical narrative. It is evident that their sole purpose is to prevent the public from witnessing the devastating human toll of Israel’s assault on Gaza. These objections are not grounded in the substance of the documentary but in a deliberate strategy to shut down discussions that may challenge a one-sided view of the conflict.

Abdullah Al-Yazouri, the presenter of the programme, must be evaluated on his own merits. His personal identity, including his father’s role in the Palestinian government, should be irrelevant to any meaningful discussion of the documentary. The accusations made against his family are baseless and do not undermine the legitimacy of Abdullah’s perspective. His father, Ayman Al-Yazouri, holds a bureaucratic position as Deputy Minister of Agriculture – not a military or extremist one. To date, no credible evidence has been presented to suggest that his father’s position influenced Abdullah’s participation or shaped the content of the film. Had that been the case, the documentary would undoubtedly have presented a different narrative.

Furthermore, had the BBC aired a programme featuring the child of an Israeli army officer involved in the conflict, no one would dream of criticizing the broadcast based on the parent’s profession. The content would, as it should, be judged on its own merit. Likewise, the personal history of Abdullah Al-Yazouri should not cloud our judgment of the documentary.

We are all too familiar with the emotional stories of Israeli hostages and the tragic deaths of individuals like Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas. Yet, the broader stories of Palestinian children and mothers – who have suffered and died – remain vastly underrepresented. The plight of those imprisoned without charge or trial, many of whom are children, is often ignored in mainstream discourse. The voices of Palestinians in Gaza, especially in light of their daily suffering, must be given equal weight in our collective empathy.

The complaints we are witnessing seem designed to prevent any portrayal of Palestinians as full human beings deserving of our sympathy. These attempts to discredit a documentary based on unfounded associations must be rejected. This is not a case of guilt by association, but of presenting the lived reality of Gaza’s children in the face of relentless violence.

We call on the BBC to stand firm in its decision to air this crucial documentary. Let it be a beacon of integrity and a reminder of the importance of presenting all sides of a story. The BBC should continue to be proud of this work and remain resolute in its commitment to showing the world the true impact of the conflict on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Wroe

You can see the documentary here

Guardian review

5th March

Today I received this standard reply from the BBC.

Dear Audience Member

Thanks for contacting us about Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

The BBC has issued a statement on this programme: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaint/gazahowtosurviceawarzonestatement

As complaints about this programme have been expedited to the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU), we will not be issuing a further response at Stage 1 of the Complaints process, but we will inform you of the ECU’s findings once their investigation is complete.

Thanks again for getting in touch.  

BBC Complaints Team
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

This just confirms the awful bias of the BBC towards the Genocidal Israeli Government. They baulk at allowing the son of a Palestinian Government official in Gaza to have his say. Every mention of Hamas is followed by “is a terror organisation proscribed by the UK Government.” Netanyahu and Gallant have been issued arrest warrants by the International Court of Justice, but this is rarely mentioned on the BBC. How to Survive a Warzone should be reinstated to i-player immediately.

Here is 13-year-old narrator Abdullah al-Yazuri speaking out after the BBC removed the documentary. Abdullah, who spent nine months working on the film, says he was left devastated: “I recorded more than 60 hours of footage, and it was all wiped. It is extremely disappointing and heartbreaking for me.” Facing harassment and threats, he holds the BBC accountable: “If anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible.” He also calls for the documentary’s reinstatement, saying: “I was very impartial in this film. I did not add or take away anything. The script I read was provided by the production company.”