Latest news with #AbdullahalYazouri
Indian Express
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
How BBC's Gaza documentary ‘scandal' highlights criticism of its war coverage
A BBC documentary about Gaza has come under fire for reportedly breaching editorial guidelines on accuracy, 'by failing to disclose the [film's] narrator was the son of a Hamas official,' according to the news organisation's review. On Monday (July 14), it found that the independent production company, Hoyo Films, bears 'most of the responsibility for the failure', adding that the BBC also 'bore some responsibility and should have done more in its oversight.' Here is what to know. What is the film in question? GAZA: HOW TO SURVIVE A WARZONE was released on the BBC's UK-specific video and streaming service, iPlayer, in February this year. Its description on the film database website IMDb says, 'Following the lives of four young people trying to survive the Israel-Hamas war as they hope for a ceasefire – a vivid and unflinching view of life in a warzone.' However, it was pulled from the platform days later. At the centre of the controversy is a 13-year-old boy named Abdullah al Yazouri, featured in the film. The BBC only later 'discovered' that he was the son of the deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza, in the Hamas government. Hamas is the militant Palestinian organisation that came to power in the enclave in 2006, following elections. It went to war with the rival organisation Fatah, after the latter refused to accept its victory. Since then, Hamas has controlled Gaza while the Palestinian Authority (PA) controls the Palestinian territories in the West Bank. Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have classified Hamas as a terrorist organisation. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched strikes against Israel that killed over 1,200 people and abducted around 250 others. Israel almost immediately launched a brutal military response in Gaza, which has continued to date. Major cities have been flattened, and over 58,000 people have been killed (a majority being women and children), according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. So, what did the BBC find? The BBC said it had not been informed of the family connection in advance by the film's production company. The review found that three members of the production company knew of the father's position. Peter Johnston, Director of Editorial Complaints & Reviews, wrote in the review report that the BBC team had not been 'sufficiently proactive' with initial editorial checks. The UK's media watchdog Ofcom has now said it will conduct its own investigation to ensure that 'factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.' Notably, Johnston wrote, 'I do not consider that anything in the Narrator's scripted contribution to the Programme breached the BBC's standards on due impartiality. The content of the narration is factual and carries balance where required.' There was no evidence to suggest that the narrator's family influenced the film, he added. The BBC said it was taking several steps to prevent a similar breach being repeated. Hoyo Films said it took the review findings 'extremely seriously' and that it 'apologises for the mistake that resulted in a breach of the editorial guidelines'. In early July, the BBC was also criticised for allowing the punk group Bob Vylan's performance at the Glastonbury Festival to continue streaming online. The duo chanted 'death to the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)' and 'Free, free Palestine' during their set. What is the fallout so far? The NGO Campaign Against Antisemitism said the BBC's recommendations were 'frankly insulting'. More than 40 Jewish television executives, including a former BBC content chief and JK Rowling's agent, Neil Blair, previously wrote to the BBC with questions about editorial failings surrounding the film. More broadly, the media organisation is being criticised for keeping its viewers in the dark, leading to allegations of bias. However, the BBC has also been criticised in recent months for a skewed coverage of the events unfolding in Gaza by another group of people. Earlier this month, more than 120 BBC employees anonymously wrote an open letter to the management, signed by other media professionals. That letter came after the BBC restricted another Gaza-related documentary, Gaza: Medics Under Fire. 'We're writing to express our concerns over opaque editorial decisions and censorship at the BBC on the reporting of Israel/Palestine… It demonstrates, once again, that the BBC is not reporting 'without fear or favour' when it comes to Israel.' The letter added, 'A recent statement from the BBC said broadcasting the film 'risked creating the perception of partiality'. This illustrates precisely what many of us have experienced first hand: an organisation that is crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government.' It said senior BBC staffers often made decisions without discussion or explanation. 'As an organisation we have not offered any significant analysis of the UK government's involvement in the war on Palestinians. We have failed to report on weapons sales or their legal implications. These stories have instead been broken by the BBC's competitors,' it added. 'This hasn't happened by accident, rather by design. Much of the BBC's coverage in this area is defined by anti-Palestinian racism… All too often it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military. This should be a cause of great shame and concern for everyone at the BBC.' Finally, it called on the BBC to 'do better for our audiences and recommit to our values of impartiality, honesty and reporting without fear or favour.'
Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Minister criticises BBC for ‘catastrophic failures' after Gaza report
The BBC News chief has apologised for failing to sufficiently scrutinise a documentary, as the culture secretary criticises a 'series of catastrophic failures' at the corporation. An internal review found the BBC breached editorial guidelines by failing to give audiences the 'critical information' that the narrator of Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, Abdullah al-Yazouri, was the son of a Hamas minister. It found that the programme, which was pulled from iPlayer days after it aired in February, breached editorial guidelines on accuracy, but not impartiality. Three members of the film's production company, Hoyo Films, knew who the 13-year-old's father was at the time the programme aired but did not tell the BBC, which the review called a 'significant oversight'. Peter Johnston, the BBC's director of editorial complaints and reviews, found that the corporation 'bears some responsibility' as 'it has ultimate editorial responsibility for the programme as broadcast'. He ruled the BBC team was not 'sufficiently proactive' with initial editorial checks and there was a 'lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions'. Ofcom said that it had examined the BBC report and would be investigating under its Broadcasting Code. An spokesman said: 'Having examined the BBC's findings, we are launching an investigation under our rule which states that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience.' On Monday Deborah Turness, the BBC News chief executive, apologised for the error, which she said had been taken 'incredibly seriously' by the broadcaster. 'I'm sorry this happened. It was a mistake,' she said. 'At BBC News, we are fully accountable for everything that we publish and everything we broadcast, but we didn't run those questions to ground.' However, she blamed Hoyo Films for the error. 'The questions should have been answered by the independent production company at the many times of asking,' she said. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, welcomed the acknowledgement by the BBC that there had been a 'series of catastrophic failures' over recent weeks, including its decision to broadcast punk duo Bob Vylan's Glastonbury performance which included chants of 'death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]'. 'Our national broadcaster is too important for its independence and impartiality to be called into question,' Nandy added. 'I am pleased that there has been progress over recent weeks but as the BBC itself has recognised, there is more that has to be done.' The BBC has said it would 'ensure accountability' and said it had no planned commissions with Hoyo Films. Tim Davie, the BBC's director-general, said: 'Peter Johnston's report identifies a significant failing in relation to accuracy in this documentary. I thank him for his thorough work and I am sorry for this failing. 'We will now take action on two fronts: fair, clear and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated.' Johnston said that in hindsight the use of this child to narrate the film was 'not appropriate', but there was no evidence that Hamas or the boy's father influenced the film. He did not rule that the production company misled the corporation, but found that it bore most of the responsibility for the failure. The report detailed at least five occasions when the BBC asked Hoyo about 'background checks' on individuals. For example, on January 12, a month before the programme aired, an editorial policy adviser asked Hoyo: 'Has due diligence been done on those featured to ensure eg the lead boy doesn't have links in any way to [Hamas] — I'm sure it has but critics may raise something and I want to make sure we're completely sure.' The BBC said How To Survive A Warzone, which followed children as they lived through the Israeli siege of Gaza, could return to iPlayer as a series of edited, shorter films. Hoyo Films said: 'We take the findings extremely seriously and apologise for the mistake. Our team in Gaza risked their lives to document the devastating impact of war on children. Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone remains a vital account, and our contributors, who have no say in the conflict, deserve to have their voices heard.' The Campaign Against Antisemitism pressure group called for an independent investigation 'into bias in the BBC's Middle East coverage'. Its chief executive, Gideon Falter, said: 'If the BBC were an accountable organisation, senior executives would be scrambling to save their jobs. Instead, it's the usual weasel pledge to 'update some guidelines'.' He called for Davie's resignation, accusing him of steering the broadcaster 'from national treasure to national embarrassment'. In a note to staff sent on Monday, Turness said that the failings 'did not take away' from the division's wider achievements. Several staffers said that it felt 'tone deaf' in light of the conclusions. 'There have been repeated failures and apologies on getting it wrong on Israel coverage and it seems to always be one way,' said one. 'Deborah's email read like a 'aren't we brilliant, but here's one small failing'.' Katie Razzall, the BBC culture and media editor, said that 'eyebrows were raised' about how the film came to be broadcast having been classified as a 'high risk project' by bosses. Davie is preparing to meet the broadcaster's Jewish staff network on Wednesday. Responding to the review on Monday evening, Downing Street said the BBC must take 'swift action' to ensure 'such errors' are never repeated again. The prime minister's official spokesman said: 'The BBC must ensure that such errors are never repeated and the public rightly expect the highest standards from the BBC and the corporation must learn and take swift action from the report's findings.'
Sky News
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Channel 4 News admits output featured Hamas official's son also linked to BBC documentary on Gaza
Channel 4 News has admitted the son of a Hamas official featured in parts of its daily coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. The appearance of the son of Ayman Alyazouri - who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture - follows an ongoing controversy within the BBC. The BBC's chair Samir Shah told MPs on Tuesday that a BBC documentary which included 13-year-old Abdullah al Yazouri was a "really, really bad moment" and "a dagger to the heart" to the organisation's impartiality. On Tuesday, Channel 4 issued a statement to confirm Abdullah has also appeared in "three short news segments for the programme", although it represented only a "handful of minutes across hundreds of hours" of output. "Abdullah al Yazouri did categorically not appear in any documentary broadcast on Channel 4" but did appear "alongside other voices, including Israeli voices, as part of wider packaging and reporting... and in line with our principles of due impartiality," the broadcaster said. Channel 4 said no payment was made to the boy or any of his family members, and that, once the foreign reporting team became aware of the role the boy's father held, they "took a decision not to feature him again". "Action was taken to provide additional context to the archived online copy of the reports in which Abdullah features. "Where context could not be added, namely to social media, the content was removed in line with standard editorial procedures." The broadcaster added it is "proud of its duly impartial coverage throughout the conflict" in Gaza and "has upheld the highest editorial standards". Last year, Channel 4 News was named news programme of the year at the annual Royal Television Society (RTS) awards. RTS said the broadcaster had assured it that no video material featuring Abdullah al Yazouri was featured in their awards entries and it "had no plans to revoke the awards". Last week, the BBC issued an apology and removed the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone from iPlayer, saying it had "identified serious flaws" in the making of the programme, which included Abdullah as narrator. A statement from the corporation added that a full "fact-finding review" will be undertaken, and that it has "no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer". Last week, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called an "urgent meeting" with the corporation over the film.
