Latest news with #Abdullahal-Yazuri
Middle East Eye
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
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. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 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.
Middle East Eye
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
BBC accused of violating own child protection guidelines in Gaza documentary
The BBC is facing mounting criticism for "failing in its duty of care" to the 13-year-old Palestinian narrator of the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, who said he has experienced intense online harassment and abuse amid the British broadcaster's withdrawal of the film. The documentary, which sheds light on the experiences of children in Gaza amid Israel's assault through the eyes of narrator Abdullah al-Yazuri, was abruptly removed from the BBC iPlayer, after a campaign centred on al-Yazuri's relationship to a minister in the enclave's Hamas-run government. Abdullah's father Ayman al-Yazuri, who is a deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza, has been labelled by media and pundits as a "Hamas chief" while he is in fact a technocrat with a scientific rather than political background, who has previously worked for the UAE's education ministry and studied at British universities. Speaking exclusively to Middle East Eye this week, Abdullah explained that he and his family have been the targets of online abuse, adding that the affair has caused him serious 'mental pressure' and made him fear for his safety. 'I did not agree to the risk of me being targeted in any way before the documentary was broadcast on the BBC. So [if] anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible for it," he said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The boy also said the BBC had not reached out to him to apologise. His interview with MEE about his experiences has sparked a debate on media ethics and the broadcaster's responsibility to protect children it works with. "I posted about this concern shortly after BBC pulled this documentary," said Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, responding to Abdullah's video. "BBC has a duty of care. The BBC used these children, aired their stories, but then ditched and dumped on them. Not one of the anti-Palestinian mob have expressed one iota of concern that I have seen." I worked on a doc for @BBC and we went to GREAT lengths to protect the children we worked with per their policy below. Abdullah, the child in the Gaza doc, says he is facing online threats after the film was dropped — the BBC is responsible for his safety. They must rectify this. — Ahmed Eldin | احمد الدين (@ASE) March 6, 2025 "[The BBC] has completely failed in its duty of care," Artists for Palestine UK said. "It is playing politics with the lives of children traumatised by 17 months of genocidal violence." Several journalists and social media users have highlighted Section 9 of the BBC's editorial guidelines concerning children and young people as contributors, which states that the BBC "must take due care over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of under-18s who take part or are otherwise involved in our editorial content, irrespective of any consent given by them or by a parent, guardian or other person acting in loco parentis. Their welfare must take priority over any editorial requirement". The guidelines also emphasise that "protecting children and young people online is a shared responsibility for the BBC, parents/guardians, and the under-18 concerned". This is what the BBC Editorial guidelines say about protecting children that it works with. Abdullah, the child in the Gaza doco, says that after the film was dropped he and his family received online threats. He says, the BBC is responsible for his welfare. He's right: — Sangita Myska (@SangitaMyska) March 6, 2025 MEE reached out to the BBC to ask whether it had taken the steps outlined in the section, including guidelines that dictate that if a person under 18 is suspected to be at risk in the course of their work, 'the situation must be referred promptly to the divisional Working with Children Adviser or, for independent production companies, to the commissioning editor'. Section 9 further states that "procedures, risk assessments and contingencies for the impact of participating on an individual's emotional and mental well-being and welfare may be appropriate in some circumstances". A spokesperson said: "The BBC takes its duty of care responsibilities very seriously, particularly when working with children, and has frameworks in place to support these obligations" and directed MEE to its public statement on the documentary. 'Put a target on a 13-year-old' Social media users accuse the BBC of exposing Abdullah to danger, and say the broadcaster has a responsibilty to ensure his safety. "Abdullah says he's been targeted & the BBC hasn't reached out. As a former @BBCNews journalist I can tell you that child safeguarding is a key part of our training. To see none of it applied here is shocking & speaks to the dehumanisation of Palestinian children over months," a user wrote on X. .@DanFriedman81 immediately deleted his post calling to bomb a Palestinian child and his family, then blocked me. What a coward. — Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) March 5, 2025 Prominent British journalist Owen Jones described the BBC as having put "a target on the back of a 13 year old boy". Others underlined the larger media context in which the film was removed, arguing that it appeared to be another example of media bias against Palestinians. "Had the situation been reversed and an Israeli boy revealed to be the child of a junior minister in Netanyahu's government the BBC might have felt obliged to issue one of its 'corrections and clarifications' but it's highly unlikely the film would have been withdrawn and the - extremely vulnerable - production team humiliated in such a public manner," said journalist and film-maker Richard Sanders. Former BBC journalist Sangita Myska said the makers of the documentary "did not meet editorial standards of transparency" but this was unlikely to have made "a material difference to the overall accuracy of the film". "The BBC has apologised for the mistake, which was the right thing to do. Yet, the BBC's inconsistent application of editorial standards across its coverage (eg, over-scrutiny of some Palestinan sources vs under-scrutiny of some Israeli ones) means 'public trust' was dropping well before this controversy," she continued. British-Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, an emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford, told MEE that the pulling of the film was 'only the latest example of the public broadcaster's regular capitulation to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby'. — Just Jews (@JustJewsUK) March 5, 2025 Tayab Ali, the director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, wrote: "It terrifies those complicit in war crimes and genocide to see Palestinian children as not only human but eloquent. They would rather erase him, label him, dismiss him, silence him - than let the world hear his voice." "Censorship won't hide the truth. Abdullah's story, and the suffering of Gaza's children, must be heard," he added.
Middle East Eye
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian official in BBC documentary row denies he and son are 'Hamas royalty'
The father of the 13-year-old Palestinian boy at the heart of the row in Britain over a BBC documentary on Gaza has denied claims that he and his son are "Hamas royalty" in an interview with Middle East Eye. Just four days after the documentary Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone aired on 17 February, the BBC pulled it from its streaming platform, iPlayer, following an intense campaign by pro-Israel groups and rival British media outlets. The comments came after pro-Israel activist David Collier alleged that Abdullah al-Yazuri, the boy who narrated the film, was the son of a deputy minister in Gaza's government and was related to a co-founder of Hamas, Ibrahim al-Yazuri, who died in 2021. Collier, whose revelations sparked a national scandal, described Abdullah as the "child of Hamas royalty", a claim later repeated by mainstream British newspapers. But speaking exclusively to Middle East Eye from Gaza this week, the official, who is British-educated, denied that he was related to the Hamas founder. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters He said that his full name is Ayman Hasan Abdullah al-Yazuri, whereas the Hamas founder's full name was Ibrahim Fares Ahmed al-Yazuri. He added that his father was named Hasan and died in 1975. 'Our family is not as some claim' - Abdullah al-Yazuri, deputy minister of agriculture, Gaza "Our family is not as some claim," he told MEE, insisting he was not "Hamas royalty". "There are many individuals within our family who are affiliated with Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), including some in leadership positions within these movements." Fatah is the party which governs the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. A British-educated technocrat Yazuri has been widely labelled a 'Hamas chief', 'Hamas official' and 'terror chief' by commentators and news organisations in Britain. Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television, told the Daily Mail in February that "the BBC appears to have given an hour of prime-time coverage to the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group". MEE revealed on 20 February that Yazuri is in fact a technocrat with a scientific rather than political background who has previously worked for the UAE's education ministry and studied at British universities. He is a civil servant in Gaza's government - which is administered by Hamas. Many Palestinians in Gaza have family or other connections to Hamas, which runs the government. This means that anyone working in an official capacity must also work with Hamas. Labour MP Rupa Huq suggested during a session of the UK Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday that the BBC's pulling of the documentary could be "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". She noted that "obviously transparency was lacking", but added: "This was a kid whose dad had that job title, and I know in some of these regimes, with the Ba'ath Party in Iraq, from having constituents there, and I know from Bangladesh, having roots there, to be a doctor you had to be in that party." Designing UAE textbooks The revelations come after 14-year-old Abdullah told MEE this week that the affair has caused him serious 'mental pressure' and made him fear for his safety. He said that when when he found out that the film had been taken down, he was devastated but added that the BBC had not reached out to him to apologise. Exclusive: Palestinian child in Gaza documentary row holds BBC responsible for fate Read More » MEE found that Ayman al-Yazuri taught chemistry in a high school in Dubai between 1995 and 2003. According to his CV, he also studied at British universities, gaining a masters degree in analytical chemistry from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge in 2004. Yazuri then did a PhD in environmental analytical chemistry at the University of Huddersfield, which he completed in 2010. During that time, between 2003 and 2011, he was a specialist in the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Education, designing textbooks and editing the science curriculum. In 2011 he became an assistant deputy minister in Gaza's Ministry of Education. His current role as deputy minister of agriculture, which he began in July 2021, involves supervising and supporting "agricultural activities" in Gaza, "especially in the field of crops cultivation, livestock and fishing", according to his LinkedIn profile. The BBC has continued to face scrunity this week, with its chair telling MPs that revelations about the documentary were 'a dagger to the heart of the BBC's claim to be impartial and to be trustworthy'. Abdullah says he's been targeted & the BBC hasn't reached out. As a former @BBCNews journalist I can tell you that child safeguarding is a key part of our training. To see none of it applied here is shocking & speaks to the dehumanisation of Palestinian children over months. — Karishma (@KarishmaPatel99) March 6, 2025 Sir Vincent Fean, who was British consul-general to Jerusalem between 2010 and 2014, told MEE on Wednesday that the BBC and producers 'have a duty to protect the dignity and wellbeing of an innocent 13-year-old boy. 'They have failed, he is receiving hate-mail, and his mental health is suffering,' he said. 'He has done nothing to deserve this. Shame on them.' Former BBC journalist Sangita Myska said that Abdullah was right that the BBC is "responsible for his welfare", according to its editorial guidelines. A BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC takes its duty of care responsibilities very seriously, particularly when working with children, and has frameworks in place to support these obligations.'
Al Bawaba
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Bawaba
Narrator of BBC's 'Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone' feels threatened
Published March 6th, 2025 - 10:51 GMT ALBAWABA - Abdullah al-Yazuri, the 13-year-old narrator behind BBC's deleted documentary 'Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone,' recently expressed concern for his life in an exclusive clip with the Middle East Eye. According to the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), Abdullah is the son of Dr. Ayman Alyazouri, Gaza's deputy agriculture minister. The long-awaited documentary was pulled out after the BBC discovered that Abdullah, is the son of a Hamas leader due to an objection from the Israeli lobby. The 13-year-old boy said during the interview, "If anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible," and then expressed his disappointment as he had worked on it for nine months. Exclusive: "If anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible."Abdullah al-Yazuri, the 13-year-old narrator of Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, speaks to MEE after the BBC pulled the documentary. "I worked for nine months, and it was all wiped." — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 5, 2025 He stated further that neither his father nor mother influenced his lines during the documentary, but instead worked hand in hand with the documentary's producer. Abdullah added that he was threatened by anonymous individuals on social media by getting cyberbullied, harassed, stalked, and more. Abdullah also explained how these incidents affected his mental health and family. The "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone" documentary was filmed largely through the eyes of three children in Gaza with the main narrator named Abdullah Alyazouri. 13-year-old. "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone" documentary. (Photo: The hour-long documentary was produced by two directors, based in London, UK who worked remotely with two local cameramen. The documentary took more than nine months to be ready and was deleted after an objection from the Israeli lobby. In response to the BBC's decision to remove the documentary, several social media users uploaded the whole film on social media: © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
Middle East Eye
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Exclusive: Palestinian child in Gaza documentary row holds BBC responsible for fate
Abdullah al-Yazuri is 13 years old and has witnessed death and devastation on a scale that most could never imagine. Having survived Israel's deadly war on Gaza, which has killed at least 48,380 Palestinians so far, Abdullah's dream is to study journalism in distant Britain, where his father got his PhD. But in recent weeks, Abdullah has found himself at the centre of a national row in Britain, triggered by his role narrating a BBC documentary on Gaza's children, Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone. Speaking to Middle East Eye this week, Abdullah described spending hours being filmed in the besieged enclave during the war. He said that he had hoped that the documentary could 'spread the message of the suffering that children in Gaza witness'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Instead, just four days after the documentary aired on 17 February, the BBC pulled it from its streaming platform, iPlayer, after an intense campaign by pro-Israel groups and rival British media outlets. Their criticism centred over revelations that Abdullah's father, Ayman al-Yazuri, is a deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza's government, which is administered by Hamas. 'I did not agree to the risk of me being targeted in any way before the documentary was broadcasted on the BBC. So [if] anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible for it' - Abdullah al-Yazuri Yazuri has been widely labelled a 'Hamas chief', 'Hamas official' and 'terror chief' by commentators and news organisations in Britain. But MEE revealed on 20 February that Yazuri was in fact a technocrat with a scientific rather than political background and had previously worked for the UAE's education ministry and studied at British universities. Ministers, bureaucrats and civil servants in Gaza are appointed by Hamas, while in the West Bank they are appointed by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. The withdrawal of the documentary was coupled with torrents of online harassment and abuse targeting Abdullah and his family. 'I've been working for over nine months on this documentary for it to just get wiped and deleted… it was very sad to me.' Abdullah, who had spent around 60 hours obtaining footage, said. 'It was pretty disappointing and sad to see this backlash against me and my family, and this harassment," he continued, adding: 'Some anonymous people, let's say, had tried to hide the true suffering of Gaza's children by attacking me and my family." He told MEE that the affair has caused him serious 'mental pressure' and made him fear for his safety. Now, he says, he holds the BBC responsible for his fate. The BBC's conduct throughout the row has been criticised by prominent media personalities, former diplomats and politicians. Sir Vincent Fean, who was British consul-general to Jerusalem between 2010 and 2014, said that the BBC and producers 'have a duty to protect the dignity and wellbeing of an innocent 13-year-old boy. 'They have failed, he is receiving hate-mail, and his mental health is suffering,' he said. 'He has done nothing to deserve this. Shame on them.' No apology On Tuesday, the BBC's chair, Samir Shah, told MPs that revelations about the documentary were 'a dagger to the heart of the BBC's claim to be impartial and to be trustworthy'. While the BBC has been accused of broadcasting 'Hamas propaganda', there has been no evidence of Hamas influence on the film's content. Abdullah said his narration was scripted by the production company commissioned for the documentary without the input of any outside actors. When 13-year-old Abdullah found out that the film had been taken down, he was devastated but added that the BBC had not reached out to him to apologise. Palestinian deputy minister at heart of BBC Gaza documentary row studied at UK universities Read More » Instead, the organisation has been battling further criticism from pro-Israel advocates over payments made to Abdullah. Pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel announced on Monday that it had reported the BBC and the documentary's producers to counterterror police for possible terror offences. The BBC confirmed last week that the film's production company, Hoyo Films, had paid the Yazuri family a 'limited sum of money for the narration'. The teenager said he had not received financial remuneration for the documentary beyond money to cover its expenses. Abdullah clarified: 'In the contract that was signed between the production my mother, there wasn't any payment for me or my family. However, I had $1,000 transferred to my sister's account, which were for personal spendings, nothing else.' MEE has also reached out to Hoyo Films for comment regarding the expenses paid to Abdullah and for details of the contract he signed. Labour MP Kim Johnson told MEE that 'Abdullah's narration offers a crucial perspective that deserves to be heard, not censored.' She described the decision to pull the documentary as 'yet another shocking attempt to silence the truth about what is actually happening in Gaza'. Johnson added that the case 'raises serious questions about editorial independence and the pressure to suppress Palestinian voices at a time when the world needs to bear witness to the reality on the ground.' 'More than 200 journalists killed' British-Israeli historian Avi Shlaim, an emeritus professor of international relations at Oxford, told MEE that the pulling of the film was 'only the latest example of the public broadcaster's regular capitulation to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby'. 'The BBC has good reporters on Israel-Palestine,' Shlaim said, 'but its bosses are hopelessly compromised by their pronounced and persistent bias in favour of Israel. 'The reason for this bias is not lack of knowledge but cowardice, the fear of antagonising Israel and Israel's friends in high places in Britain.' By pulling Gaza film, BBC shows it cannot stand up to Israel Read More » Prominent journalist Owen Jones, who published an investigation into what he called the BBC's 'civil war over Gaza' in December, said the revelations would 'further trash confidence' in the broadcaster. 'That the BBC has left the young boy they fed to the wolves to be abused as a consequence of their cowardice, and haven't even reached out, is scandalous. 'This will further trash confidence in the BBC, which was already at rock bottom for so many.' Film-maker and journalist Richard Sanders, who produced multiple documentaries on Gaza for Al Jazeera during Israel's recent war on the enclave, pointed out that 'more than 200 journalists have been killed by the Israelis in Gaza'. It was dangerous, he noted, that 'the team that made this are effectively being smeared as Hamas accomplices. And at the heart of the story we have a vulnerable child.' In a message he addressed to the BBC, Abdullah said: 'I did not agree to the risk of me being targeted in any way before the documentary was broadcasted on the BBC. So [if] anything happens to me, the BBC is responsible for it.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC takes its duty of care responsibilities very seriously, particularly when working with children, and has frameworks in place to support these obligations.' Chris Doyle, chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said Abdullah's claims highlight the BBC's 'treatment of Palestinians as a whole'. 'I hope that Gaza sees light again, that children of Gaza have a bright future again' - Abdullah al-Yazuri 'It should have been a priority to look after the children.' Ultimately, Abdullah remains hopeful that the film will be put up again 'and spread all over the world'. He said he was heartened by the outpouring of support the film has received in Britain, even amid the abuse. A letter organised by Artists for Palestine UK calling for the documentary to be reinstated has received over 1,000 signatures from media professionals, including prominent figures like Gary Lineker, Juliet Stevenson and Miriam Margolyes. The group told MEE that the BBC 'has completely failed in its duty of care. It is playing politics with the lives of children traumatized by 17 months of genocidal violence. 'This, and not the spurious accusations made against the documentary, is the real scandal here.' Abdullah said he is grateful to 'all of those in the United Kingdom who had supported me, supported the documentary and had protested for the documentary to be put back on the BBC. 'I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and continue your efforts that hopefully can and will return the movie back up on BBC,' he added. 'I hope that Gaza sees light again, that children of Gaza have a bright future again and everybody in this 260 kilometre spot… sees a better future and a better tomorrow. 'My wish is to study journalism [in] the United Kingdom.'
