Latest news with #DoctorsUnderAttack
Daily Record
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Record
Medics to give insight into life in war-torn Gaza at documentary screening in Paisley
Members of Medical Aid for Palestine will be at the Wynd Centre on Tuesday, August 19 as part of a screening of the Gaza: Doctors Under Attack documentary People will have the opportunity to hear from medics who have treated people in Gaza at a special event in Paisley next week. Doctors, including Abdulla Alhasso, will give a first-hand account of their experiences of looking after vulnerable people in Gaza before it was engulfed by war. Members of Medical Aid for Palestine will be at the Wynd Centre on Tuesday, August 19 as part of a screening of the Gaza: Doctors Under Attack documentary. The documentary features live footage of medics treating the injured following attacks by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), as well as their detention and mass disappearances. Members of the production team who made the documentary will also take part in a Q&A session. The event is being organised by Paisley 4 Palestine in partnership with Scottish Palestinian Health Partnership (SPHP). John Kelly, a founding member of Paisley 4 Palestine, said both the documentary and guests would provide a powerful insight into the battle for survival at a time when journalists are prevented from entering and reporting in Gaza. He told the Paisley Daily Express: 'This is a real opportunity for people in Paisley to hear first hand from medical volunteers as well as those behind this powerful documentary. 'SPHP held a screening recently at Glasgow University which was full to capacity on the night. We hope the people of Paisley will similarly turn out to watch it. 'The clear message from us is that people just need to keep talking about Palestine, we want people to continue to shine a spotlight on what is happening there and the suffering of the Palestinian people.' Doctors Under Attack bills itself as a 'forensic investigation' into claims that the IDF has been systematically targeting Palestinian medics in Gaza's hospitals. It demonstrates what the UN has called a pattern of attacks, in which hospitals first come under bombardment, are later besieged and finally invaded by tanks and soldiers. It is then, the Palestinians allege, doctors are taken and detained. In the documentary, doctors who have since been released, and an Israeli whistleblower, say medics are being systemically tortured. The documentary was first broadcast by Channel 4 in July. Despite the previous broadcast of the documentary, public screenings across west Scotland have proved incredibly popular, with people also keen to hear from those who have been on the ground in Gaza in the past two years. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack was initially commissioned by the BBC but it infamously backed out of broadcasting it due to partiality concerns. This was despite an Israeli whistleblower confirming accounts of torture by the IDF and analysis by independent human rights organisations. The documentary also features the harrowing violence inflicted on innocent Israelis during Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when more than 1,000 people were killed and 250 people were taken hostage.
The National
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
I'm a journalist covering Palestine Action arrests. This is all absurd
This week's Behind the Headlines comes from editor Laura Webster. To receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every week for free, click here. Is this the new normal? Is this just the way things are going to be from now on? The scene: Friday, early afternoon, our Glasgow newsroom. One reporter is at a protest in Nelson Mandela Place, where an activist has been arrested for holding a sign stating "genocide in Palestine, time to take action". He is not the first to be arrested under new terror legislation – which came in less than a fortnight ago – proscribing the group Palestine Action. Meanwhile, another reporter is filing copy detailing an important visit by one Major General Tomer Bar (below). You may not be familiar with this name but you will certainly know of his work. This man is the head of the Israeli air force and, according to Israeli media reports, approves all aerial attacks on Gaza. He has been welcomed to the UK, because he is here for the Royal International Air Tattoo event at RAF Fairford. His former boss Yoav Gallant, the ousted defence minister, is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. We cover each story as best as we can. We are well aware of how ridiculous this situation is. We too are bound by the new law. Anything relating to Palestine Action goes straight to the lawyers for legal checking. It has been like this all week. Last night another reporter informed me that somebody in Glasgow's southside had been arrested and charged; apparently they had a poster up which they'd forgotten about. Okay, I say. Write your draft up and I'll send it for legalling. As I send the copy over, there is a screening of Doctors Under Attack (the film the BBC refused to show) on at Glasgow University. I commissioned a piece on it. The documentary tells the story of how Israel systematically destroyed Gaza's health system. It's absolutely harrowing. The people who decided to cause such carnage face no justice. In fact, these are the same people planning to force the people of Gaza into a camp which they will not be allowed to leave. [The National's description of this as a "concentration camp" prompted multiple letters complaining of antisemitism and demanding we issue a retraction/apology.] READ MORE: Activist slams 'draconian' law as protester arrested at Palestine Action demo None of it makes any sense to me, or our team. The people doing the killing and destroying face no consequences. The people raising the alarm are taken away in handcuffs. I wonder how many arrests our reporters will witness before the UK decides to take real action against Israel? If this really is the new normal, Scotland shouldn't have anything to do with it.
The National
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Media expert raises fears over BBC Gaza documentary review
The BBC was found to have breached one of its editorial guidelines on accuracy after it failed to disclose that the narrator in the axed documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was the son of a Hamas official. However, the review crucially stated on page one there was nothing 'in the narrator's scripted contribution to the programme that breached the BBC's standards on due impartiality' while it added there was no evidence 'to support a suggestion that the narrator's father or family influenced the content of the programme'. Professor Des Freedman, who works in the media department at Goldsmiths, University of London, said these points have not been widely focused on by the mainstream media, with most headlines homing in on the single accuracy breach. READ MORE: Angus Robertson hits out as Labour 'keep UK veto on Scottish laws' And he fears the review and the way in which the breach has been reported on will now give the BBC "cover" to make more 'cowardly decisions' on Gaza coverage. 'I think it provides BBC executives, who have already made some cowardly decisions such as decided to drop the Doctors Under Attack documentary, with cover to say that actually doing this kind of work in Gaza is too complicated,' he told The National. 'They will do this in the light of the fact they know there will be pressure placed on them. 'The best way of responding to that pressure is not to give in, because that pressure will still come. It's actually to make sure you commission serious, high-quality current affairs programmes and documentaries that assess what's going on. 'My worry is they are going to interpret this as yet another reason to steer clear [of investigative Gaza coverage].' Freedman (below) added he has concerns over the review branding the documentary a 'higher-risk project' which might require more intense oversight, such as 'embedding a BBC executive into the independent production company'. (Image: Goldsmiths) He added: 'Why should a documentary about the most appalling war crimes taking place be seen as higher risk? 'Surely the risk would be not to report it. 'I find it worrying it's put into that category of higher risk with more editorial intervention by people who have already demonstrated that they are not willing to sanction impartial reporting of the attacks on Gaza.' While the review was going on, the BBC axed the Basement Films documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack following concerns that it would 'not meet the high standards' of impartiality – a move that was widely criticised especially after it was broadcast by Channel 4 with no formal concerns raised. Ofcom boss Melanie Dawes said at the weekend that failings on Israel-Palestine coverage present a "real risk" for the BBC. She said it had been guilty of 'own goals' in its reporting and declined to give executives her support. Upon discovering the Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone narrator, Abdullah, was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza's government, the BBC removed the documentary from iPlayer. In an email to staff – shared on social media by Basement Films – BBC News CEO Deborah Turness said the BBC would not reinstate the documentary in full but would explore re-editing some of the material. READ MORE: Everything to know about the BBC's Gaza, Glastonbury and Gregg Wallace crises Freedman insisted the documentary must be reinstated in full as he warned that 'breaking it up into morsels' could create even more problems for the BBC. 'They should reinstate the programme onto iPlayer as soon as possible in full, making clear what has happened and allow viewers to make their own minds up,' he said. 'A breach of accuracy does not mean in itself that that programme cannot continue on iPlayer. 'I think the BBC have acknowledged this because Deborah Turness has suggested that the programme could in parts be reintroduced to iPlayer. That's such a typically cowardly way of doing things. 'There is an appetite for this type of content, a comprehensive report has found in terms of programme content, it was pretty much flawless […] so there is no objective reason why the programme shouldn't be put back up there.' He added: 'The idea you can break this up into morsels is exactly what we don't need. We need proper investigative reporting of what's been going on [in Gaza]." Ex-BBC journalist Karishma Patel also said there was "no editorial reason" for the BBC not to put the programme back on iPlayer with details of the narrator's background outlined. She said: "The one breach of BBC editorial policy can easily be resolved by signposting the relevant context in the film, alongside a proper explanation of how ministerial roles operate in Gaza. "I see no editorial reason why the BBC should not air and upload this amended version of the film - an important piece of public service journalism - to BBC iPlayer. "But there is a broader conversation to be had here – if the BBC is serious about signposting the relevant connections of every contributor, why not tell us when an interviewee has served in the Israeli military? "If the BBC is serious about including all relevant context in its news coverage, why not highlight the ICC arrest warrant out for Benjamin Netanyahu whenever he's mentioned? "The inconsistency in how these rules are applied, especially around Gaza, is distorting reality and misleading audiences." When approached for comment, the BBC directed The National to a statement from Turness which said: 'At the heart of this programme were powerful and important stories that need to be told. But it's clear that in this programme we made a significant mistake. "This is why we have drawn up a robust action plan to make sure all of Peter Johnston's recommendations are implemented. "Our audiences deserve the highest possible standards of accuracy from the BBC, and we are strengthening our editorial oversight to ensure that we deliver this for them. "We remain committed to reporting from Gaza, despite the fact that international journalists are not allowed in."
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC Drops ‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack' Film As Producer Brands Director General A 'PR Person'
For the second time this year, the BBC has dropped a documentary film about the Israel-Hamas conflict, announcing that it will no longer move forward with Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. The BBC greenlit Doctors Under Attack last year from Basement Films, the production company run by former Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear. More from Deadline International Insider: '28 Years Later' Arrives; Landmark Netflix-TF1 Deal; NHK At 100 BBC Hits AI Startup Perplexity With Legal Threat Over Content Scraping Concerns BBC's BAFTA-Winning Doc Series 'Once Upon A Time In...' Turns Eye To Middle East It was meant to spotlight the plight of medics in Gaza, but production was paused in April following the scandal over Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, the HOYO Films doc that was found to have been narrated by the child of a Hamas minister. A BBC investigation into How to Survive a Warzone remains ongoing. Peter Johnston, the BBC's director of editorial complaints and reviews, is examining the failings that led to the film being broadcast. Now, the BBC has said it will not screen Doctors Under Attack, or carry any of its contents in news bulletins, after discussions with Basement 'reached the end of the road' on Thursday. In a lengthy statement, the BBC said: 'We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC. 'Impartiality is a core principle of BBC News. It is one of the reasons that we are the world's most trusted broadcaster. Therefore, we are transferring ownership of the film material to Basement Films.' The corporation continued: 'We want to thank the doctors and contributors and we are sorry we could not tell their stories. The BBC will continue to cover events in Gaza impartially.' In a statement, Basement Films claimed that the BBC had approved the film for broadcast and it was considered a 'vital piece of public service journalism.' 'They gave us no less than 6 different release dates, and it was subjected to a long and repeated compliance process as well as scrupulous fact checking,' Basement said. 'They then apologised and reversed their position and said that it would be subject to the recommendations of the Johnston report.' The company added: 'We are relieved that the BBC will finally allow this film to be released.' It is not clear what brought the talks between the BBC and Basement to a head. De Pear did, however, personally criticize BBC director-general Tim Davie on a public platform at the Sheffield DocFest on Thursday. He said Davie is 'just a PR person,' who has meddled in editorial decisions and is leading an organization that is 'failing' in its duty to report on the Gaza crisis properly. 'Something needs to happen because they are making decisions from a PR defensive point of view rather than a journalistic one. If you make a decision on a journalistic basis you can defend it, but if you make it on a PR basis, you can't,' de Pear said, per a report in Broadcast. The BBC said it spent weeks with de Pear attempting to get Gaza doctors' voices heard. 'Our aim was to find a way to air some of the material in our news programmes, in line with our impartiality standards, before the review [into How to Survive a Warzone] was published,' it said. The BBC added: 'Contrary to some reports, since we paused production of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack in April, it has not undergone the BBC's final pre-broadcast sign-off processes.' The BBC's coverage of the Gaza crisis has stoked strong feelings on both sides of the conflict, with How to Survive a Warzone illustrating the fraught nature of the debate. The UK's Jewish community was appalled that the BBC screened a film narrated by a boy with Hamas connections that were not declared to viewers. Others argued that the BBC's decision to pull How To Survive a Warzone was an act of 'censorship' that played into Israel's agenda. Best of Deadline A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg The 25 Highest-Grossing Animated Films Of All Time At The Global Box Office
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack review – this crucial film is the stuff of nightmares. But the world needs to see it
The biggest, and possibly only, failure of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is that the circumstances of its broadcast threaten to overshadow its content. A brief recap: this film was first commissioned by the BBC, only to be dropped when another documentary – Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone – sparked a furore over impartiality. The abandonment drew uproar from within the corporation, scorn from the wider media and the inescapable sense that what started as a vital piece of film-making had devolved into yet another navel-gazing referendum on the purpose of the BBC. Thanks to Channel 4 picking it up late in the day, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack now exists in the world, and it has never been more evident that this is a work that demands to be seen. Doctors Under Attack bills itself as a 'forensic investigation' into claims that the IDF has been systematically targeting Palestinian medics in all 36 of Gaza's hospitals. The attacks, according to the United Nations, follow a set pattern. First, a hospital comes under bombardment, then it is besieged. After that, it is raided by tanks and bulldozers and its medical workers are detained. And then, once the hospital has essentially been rendered non-functional, the forces move on and repeat. It's a strategy designed to cripple Gaza for years to come, says one talking head. After all, when a building is destroyed, you can throw up another in its place. But medics require years of training. Rob Gaza of their expertise and you deny its chances of ever rebuilding. This is despite, as the film repeats time and time again, healthcare workers being protected under international law. The power of Doctors Under Attack comes in the unhurried way it chooses to unfurl its thesis. There is no clear manipulation, no central villain. What there is, however, is an unceasing timeline of horrors. We are shown doctors doing their best in overwhelmed hospitals with no water or electricity, racing to treat wounds that have already begun to rot. We are shown them coming under what seem like targeted attacks, being detained in black sites where they will be tortured and interrogated. There is footage of a gang rape by soldiers. We are shown children, injured and dead, in vast numbers. The central part of the film, however, is stories of individual doctors. There is Dr Khaled Hamouda, discussing the direct attack on his home that killed 10 members of his family, and the drone strike that moments later hit the house the survivors escaped to. His wife and young daughter dead, he then took refuge in the grounds of his hospital, which was bombarded and raided. He was detained along with 70 other doctors, and beaten. And then there is Dr Adnan al-Bursh, who was detained, stripped, interrogated, disappeared and tortured. Unlike Hamouda, we do not get to hear his testimonial, because he died in prison. But we do get to hear the calls he made to his family before then, telling his children to look after their mother. To hear their stories is to be filled with utter hopelessness. There have been several muscular documentaries about the Palestinian territories this year, either setting the table of the conflict or – as with the case of Louis Theroux's film The Settlers – trying to understand the psychology behind those who choose to exacerbate it. But Doctors Under Attack is by far the most unsparing. The discussion of what has happened to the detained doctors, verified by an anonymous Israeli whistleblower, is the stuff of nightmares. There are beatings. There is torture. Most unsettlingly of all, there are descriptions of mistreatment by Israeli doctors, who would perform procedures without anaesthetic and inform the prisoners that 'You are a criminal and you have to die.' The BBC dropped Doctors Under Attack due to the risk that it created 'a perception of partiality'. However, it is hard to square that claim with the film that has aired on Channel 4. Clarification has been sought from the IDF at every turn. The events of 7 October 2023 are shown here just as graphically as the footage of injured Palestinian children. The film-makers understand that the slightest sign of bias would collapse the argument. In an open letter before its broadcast, Channel 4's Louisa Compton warned that Doctors Under Attack would 'make people angry, whichever side they take.' She is right. This is the sort of television that will never leave you. It will provoke an international reaction, and for extremely good cause. Forget what got it stopped at the BBC. It is here now and, regardless of how that happened, we owe it to the subjects to not look away. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is on Channel 4 now. Viewers around the world can access the film here
