logo
BBC apologises for ‘serious flaws' in making of Gaza documentary

BBC apologises for ‘serious flaws' in making of Gaza documentary

Independent27-02-2025

The BBC has apologised for 'serious flaws' in the making of programme Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, and added it has no plans to broadcast the documentary again or return it to iPlayer.
The corporation removed the documentary after it emerged that the child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.
The broadcaster, which has now conducted an initial review of the programme, said independent production company Hoyo Films, who made documentary, told them the boy's mother had been paid 'a limited sum of money for the narration'.
This comes following concerns from shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew that public funds had 'indirectly supported a terrorist organisation'.
After the discovery about Abdullah Al-Yazouri, who speaks about life in the territory amid the war between Israel and Hamas, the BBC added a disclaimer to the programme and later removed it from its online catch-up service.
A BBC spokesperson said the its review 'has identified serious flaws in the making of this programme'.
It added: '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 apologise for this.
'Nothing is more important than the trust that our audiences have in our journalism.
'This incident has damaged that trust. While the intent of the documentary was aligned with our purpose – to tell the story of what is happening around the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places – the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations.
'Although the programme was made by an independent production company, who were commissioned to deliver a fully compliant documentary, the BBC has ultimate editorial responsibility for this programme as broadcast.'
The spokesperson said one of the core questions was around 'the family connections of the young boy who is the narrator of the film' and added that the production company who made the programme 'was asked in writing a number of times by the BBC about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas'.
'Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy's father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact,' the spokesperson said.
'It was then the BBC's own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.
'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.
'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 programme and will undertake a full audit of expenditure.
'We are requesting the relevant financial accounts of the production company in order to do that.'
In a separate statement, the BBC's board said mistakes made in producing the documentary were 'significant and damaging to the BBC'.
The statement said: 'The subject matter of the documentary was clearly a legitimate area to explore, but nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism.
'While the board appreciates that mistakes can be made, the mistakes here are significant and damaging to the BBC.
'The board has required the Executive to report back at the earliest opportunity on the outcomes of the work the director-general has commissioned.'
On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House in London claiming the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.
The BBC also faced criticism in pulling the documentary; with Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margolyes among the more than 500 media figures who had condemned the action.
In an open letter addressed to the BBC's director general Tim Davie, chairman Samir Shah and chief content officer Charlotte Moore, hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists called the decision to remove the documentary 'politically motivated censorship'.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

World Business Report  US-China trade talks: What's up for grabs?
World Business Report  US-China trade talks: What's up for grabs?

BBC News

time41 minutes ago

  • BBC News

World Business Report US-China trade talks: What's up for grabs?

While the US and China negotiating teams are locked in a second day of trade talks in London, we look at the key figures and businesses caught in the middle between the World's two largest economies. With the UK announcing a multibillion dollar project to build a new nuclear power station, Will Bain discusses how Europe is trying to have greater control of its energy supply in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And why Japan is experiencing an extreme shortage of one of its staple foods - rice. The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC.

EXCLUSIVE Beloved BBC star to miss ANOTHER series of their hit TV show after 15 years on air
EXCLUSIVE Beloved BBC star to miss ANOTHER series of their hit TV show after 15 years on air

Daily Mail​

time44 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE Beloved BBC star to miss ANOTHER series of their hit TV show after 15 years on air

A fan-favourite BBC star will miss another series of her hit daytime TV programme after announcing a break from the show last year. Rip Off Britain is returning to BBC One's schedule for its 18th series as production officially gets underway on the long-running hit. However, MailOnline can exclusively reveal Angela Rippon will not return for the next instalment. It comes after it was announced last year that the 80-year-old veteran broadcaster had decided to step back from the current series to pursue other work commitments, including the launch of her Let's Dance campaign on the back of her Strictly appearance. The show is also co-anchored by Julia Somervile and Gloria Hunniford, with former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin drafted in to replace Angela on the most recent series. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. A source said: 'Angela won't be coming back for the next series as she extends her sabbatical to focus on her initiative to get people dancing across the country in a bid to improve the population's health and wellbeing. 'She is very much still part of the Rip Off Britain family and the door is being kept open by BBC bosses for a return later down the line - and Angela is adamant she will be returning when her schedule allows. 'The programme is filmed in blocks with a mix of studio and solo scenes on location which makes the shooting schedule more complex as producers juggle each star's personal schedules. 'Louise Minchin is set to return to the role left vacant by Angela after becoming a hit with viewers.' MailOnline contacted the BBC for comment. Rip Off Britain first aired in 2009 and has a total of 552 episodes produced to date, tackles consumers who have been ripped off. It airs mid-mornings on BBC One and also alerts viewers to watch out for rip-offs that are currently on the market. Angela - who was awarded an OBE in 2004 for her services to broadcasting, charity and the arts - celebrated her 80th birthday with four lavish bashes in October last year. Speaking to the Mail at an afternoon tea party at The Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, she said: 'I actually don't know what it's like to be 80 and I have no intention of finding out. 'I intend to spend however long I've got on this perch growing old disgracefully, because it's a lot more fun.' She was presented with a five-tier pink cake by volunteer organisation the Phoenix Fun Events Team, which featured edible rice paper pictures of her on it.

Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies
Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies

IT was one of the most fearsome regimes in the Middle East, ruling Syria with an iron grip and 'disappearing' hundreds of thousands of people during the country's brutal civil war. But President Bashar Al-Assad's dramatic toppling in December last year exposed the true horrors of his 'human slaughterhouse' prisons. 15 Rebels swarmed the now-empty prisons after the collapse of the Assad regime Credit: Getty 15 Saydnaya Prison near Damascus was the most notorious prison in the country Credit: Getty 15 The Assad regime collapsed in December 2024. Pictured: a former inmate demonstrates how he was forced to line up naked for a medical check before being taken to a solitary confinement cell at the basement of Saydnaya Credit: Reuters Here detainees were fed from buckets and tortured day and night by sadistic guards who often assassinated them and threw sick 'execution parties' - before disposing of the dead in mass graves. Now a harrowing new BBC documentary, on tonight, delves into what really went on in jails that let Assad keep his grip on power for so long - and hears not only from the inmates detained in them, but the people who ran them. 'When the prisoners heard my name, they would tremble,' said Hussam, a military policeman who worked in the notorious Saydnaya Prison. 'I beat them with all my strength. I showed them no mercy at all.' With the dictator gone, outsiders were free to explore the labyrinth of concrete corridors that only a few months before were filled with the echoing screams of gaunt prisoners. The floors were littered with files and photographs of detainees - some partially burnt in an attempt to cover up the crimes - just part of the meticulous records kept by the state of everyone who passed through the prison walls, their names replaced by a number. Families of the missing and imprisoned are seen in the documentary desperately crawling over rubble hunting for a trace of their loved ones - or at least the truth about what happened to them. Since 2000, dictator Bashar Al-Assad presided over a Syria where dissent was crushed and human rights abuses were rife. Crucial to his hold on power were his security services, who showed little mercy to prisoners accused of threatening the regime. 'As security officers we had the right to kill as we please. We wouldn't be held accountable,' said Colonel Zain, a former Air Force Intelligence officer interviewed on the documentary. Assad torture victims reveal horror of 'burned bodies' & forgetting their names – amid hunt for tyrant's thugs '[Our] mission, like any other agency, was to protect the ruling regime. You have unlimited authority." To them, these were terrorists - and death was the least they deserved. In 2011, protests in Tunisia turned into a call for better human rights across the Middle East and North Africa, a movement called the Arab spring. But when those protests swept into the squares of Syria's capital, Damascus, they were met with a fierce crackdown. Instead of toppling Assad, the country was plunged into a brutal civil war as different factions wrestled for control. During the 13 years of fighting, more than one million people were detained by the regime. Street kidnappings 15 A new BBC documentary tells the story of those who were locked up by Assad - and the officers administering the brutal torture Credit: EPA 15 The floors are littered with the belongings of former inmates Credit: Getty 15 A giant iron press was allegedly used to crush and torture prisoners Credit: Getty Shadi Haroun was one of the first organising protests back in 2011, along with his brother Hadi. After dodging shots from snipers on rooftops, he was bundled into a car and taken to what looked like an ordinary house in the suburbs of Damascus. But this was no home. It was an interrogation centre - and Shadi was to get his first taste of the Assad regime's determination to stamp him out. 'The soldier told me to open my mouth,' Shadi recalled. 'He put his gun inside, and said: 'You're going to get tortured to death. So why don't I make it easier and put you to rest?'' Soon after he was transferred to Mezzeh Air Force Intelligence base, one of the regime's most notorious detention sites. Like all those who opposed Assad, Shadi was deemed a terrorist - with torture their chosen method of extracting a confession. 'He called the investigator and said to him, 'This man, flay him and break his bones. Kill him, do whatever you want, but I need his confession on my desk',' said Shadi. This man, flay him and break his bones. Kill him, do whatever you want, but I need his confession on my desk Security official 'He told me to lie down. They handcuffed my hands behind my back, and then cuffed my feet and joined my hands and feet together. 'They wrapped me in a blanket, like being inside a pipe. I was sweating and the smell of blood was very strong. I stayed wrapped like that for about a week." Eventually Shadi was released. Undeterred, he began organising protests again, more determined than ever to bring down the regime. Carpet of bodies 15 Thousands still don't know the whereabouts of their imprisoned family members - be they dead or alive Credit: Reuters 15 Hundreds swarmed the now-open prisons, pleading for any sign of their loved ones Credit: Getty 15 Saydnaya was particular well-known for its inhuman conditions and human rights abuses that went on inside Credit: AFP Within nine months of the protests, thousands had been arrested, many bundled off the streets like Shadi and taken to secretive locations where they were tortured until they 'confessed'. At least 3,000 had already been killed. Syria's security forces had a network of spies and informants across the country that tracked people like Shadi's every move. 'You could find informants wherever you go,' said Sergeant Omar, an officer in the Air Force Intelligence. 'They could be a taxi driver, they could be a plumber, a mobile phone shop owner, a guy selling cigarettes. 'People were living in fear. This is why we'd say, 'the walls have ears'.' It wasn't long before soldiers pulled up to the house Shadi and his brother were hiding in. Arrested once again, they were taken to the notorious Air Force Intelligence branch in Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus. Those who entered would walk over the bodies of the detainees - you couldn't see the floor Colonel Zain Colonel Zain was second in command at the time. 'The place I worked in was very famous for its bloody practices and the number of detainees held there,' he said. 'We would pack 400 detainees in a room that was eight by ten metres. Those who entered would walk over the bodies of the detainees - you couldn't see the floor.' Shadi returned to Harasta with the documentary crew and showed them round the bare walls that once imprisoned him. 'The temperature was around 40 degrees, because it was so crowded,' said Shadi. 'We saw strange cases of disease amongst prisoners, I think due to oxygen deficiency because of overcrowding. These psychotic episodes soon turned into physical symptoms.' 'Torture parties' 15 Prisoners were executed with a noose around their neck Credit: Getty 15 Piles of clothing now litter the floors where once inmates were tortured for hours on end Credit: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett 15 Prison guards relished in administering beatings Credit: Getty Inside is a changing room, where inmates were stripped, and solitary confinement cells where prisoners would spend months, or even years, locked up. In a neighbouring room, Shadi is reminded of when he was chained up with his brother before being interrogated from pipes on the ceiling. 'We were taken there and hung by our handcuffs from the pipes,' he said. 'It was unbearable - for almost 72 hours, three days, in the same position, without food or drink.' Colonel Zain recalled: 'The interrogation room was right underneath my office. 'Everyone heard the screams. Everyone knew how the interrogations were conducted.' Four months into their detention, a truck pulled up that was normally used to transport meat and they were moved to Saydnaya, a prison with a reputation for brutality that preceded anywhere else in the country. Brainwashed guards treated prisoners like animals, subjecting detainees to continuous beatings. 'We were tortured for hours, and stopped keeping track of time,' recalled Hadi. 'If someone cried during a beating, the beating would get worse." Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive Intelligence officer Putting his arms up against a door, Shadi said: "They'd bring a cable and suspend us like this. This is the 'Ghost Method'. "They'd pull us up and we'd be on our toes - you'd last 30 minutes then you'd pass out." Up to 13,000 prisoners were executed here alone in the first four years of the civil war, according to Amnesty. 'I beat them with all my strength,' said Hussam, a military policeman. 'Our superiors would say, 'Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive'. 'When they'd call me to go and torture them, the prisoners would go back to their cells bloody and exhausted.' 'Execution parties' 15 Compartments uncovered in the prisons were filled with shoes belonging to executed prisoners Credit: Getty 15 Bodies of the dead were taken to military hospitals where their deaths were recorded as 'heart and respiratory failure' Credit: Getty Occasionally a prisoner would be dragged out of their cell, finally receiving a respite from the torture. But they were on their way to a secret trial - and death was the usual sentence. 'On Wednesday mornings, we'd have an 'execution party'," Hussam recalled. 'Our role during executions was to place the rope on the prisoner - only an officer could push the chair. 'One time, the chair was pushed, but after 22 minutes he didn't die. So I grabbed him and pulled him downwards, so another guard who was bigger and stronger said, 'Go I will do it.' 'Before he died he said one thing: 'I'm going to tell God what you did'.' The bodies of the dead - be it from execution, torture, or disease - were then taken to military hospitals where their deaths were registered. 'Most of the bodies suffered acute weight loss, resembling a skeleton,' said Kamal, an army nurse. 'Most of them suffered from skin lesions and rashes due to lack of hygiene - and most of them had torture marks." He added: 'It was forbidden to record the cause of death as torture. Even those killed from gunshots were recorded as heart and respiratory failure.' All the decision makers who had a role in oppressing the Syrian people escaped, and are now in hiding Shadi With the bodies piling up, mass graves were the only solution. At least 130 grave sites have been found across Syria so far - but dozens more are believed to be out there, known only to those who dug them out. There is little hope of identification for the thousands dumped there. Many of the guards and officers defected from Assad's regime, joining the rebels or fleeing the country. By 2019, the rebellion had largely been suppressed. Shadi and his brother were released at last, fleeing to exile in Turkey. Then, in December this year, rebel forces overwhelmed Damascus and Assad fled the country and claimed asylum in Russia. With the collapse of the regime, Shadi set to work helping others locate their missing friends and family. But for many there is little hope of ever finding out what really happened to them. 'Everyone, the detainees, and families of the missing, should keep talking about this,' he said. 'All the decision makers who had a role in oppressing the Syrian people escaped, and are now in hiding. 'They've left everybody to pick up the pieces - to deal with what they left behind.' Surviving Syria's Prisons airs tonight on BBC Two at 9pm.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store