Prominent health workers accuse BBC of 'censorship' for withholding film on Gaza medics
Prominent health workers have written to the BBC expressing "profound outrage" over its decision to delay the broadcast of a new film about doctors working in Gaza, which they say is "censorship by omission".
The documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire, was ready to broadcast in February but was pulled because of a scandal that erupted over another BBC documentary on children in Gaza, entitled How to Survive a Warzone.
The BBC launched a review into the film after the Israeli embassy in London and British ministers criticised it over revelations that its 13-year-old narrator Abdullah al-Yazuri's father is a technocrat in Gaza's Hamas-administered government.
Britain's public broadcaster has said it will broadcast Gaza: Medics Under Fire after the review into the earlier documentary has been concluded, although it is not clear when that will be.
The new film has been signed off by the broadcaster's lawyers, and the BBC reportedly abandoned an earlier plan to screen the film despite the review.
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Amira Nimerawi, the CEO of Health Workers 4 Palestine, Dr Omar Abel Mannan, its founder and president, and Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the rector of Glasgow University who worked in Gaza's hospitals in 2023, were among healthcare workers who signed an open letter to the BBC's Director-General Tim Davie on Thursday.
"This is not a neutral editorial choice," they wrote.
"The BBC's refusal to air this film constitutes censorship by omission, and it is no less dangerous than overt propaganda.
"By denying the public access to this crucial testimony, the BBC is actively shielding war crimes from scrutiny and undermining its own stated commitment to impartiality, truth, and public service."
'No moral or professional reason'
Basement Films, the documentary's producer, said it was "deeply disappointed" at the BBC's decision, adding: "There is no moral or professional reason why a mistake in one film should repeatedly prevent the release of another film.
"We gathered searing testimony from multiple Palestinian doctors and health workers who had survived attacks on hospitals and their homes that killed both colleagues and loved ones.
The Settlers: Louis Theroux takes an unflinching look at the Israelis intent on stealing the West Bank Read More »
"We also spoke to multiple medics who had been detained and testified they had been tortured, and we made solemn undertakings that their stories would be told, and done so as soon as possible."
Basement Films added: "The film has been made by an experienced and multi-award-winning team both from Basement Films, and the BBC. It has been fact-checked, complied and signed off multiple times within the BBC, as well as experts we consulted with.
"We are desperate for a confirmed release date in order to be able to tell the surviving doctors and medics when their stories will be told."
The letter on Thursday noted that the health workers featured in the BBC film "have witnessed countless colleagues being killed, and have risked their lives not only to care for their patients, but to document and expose the relentless targeting by Israel of healthcare infrastructure and personnel".
A spokesperson for the BBC said: "We are committed to journalism which tells our audiences the stories of this war, including what is happening in Gaza.
"This documentary is a powerful piece of reporting and we will broadcast it as soon as possible. We have taken an editorial decision not to do so while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone."
This comes just over a week after the BBC aired Louis Theroux's film The Settlers, which recived enormous attention and focused on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
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