‘Stop whitewashing terrorism!’ Protesters blast BBC over Hamas chief’s son starring in £400k Gaza documentary

Protestors have spoken out against the BBC over its controversial £400,000 Gaza documentary, with the broadcaster now being urged to “stop whitewashing terrorism”.

Around 100 people gathered at the demonstration, organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), on Tuesday evening in front of the BBC headquarters in London.

The demonstration comes as the BBC continues to face intense scrutiny following the publication of a documentary titled “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone”.

Soon after the film’s release, it emerged that the child narrator, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has served as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Additional concerns were raised about one of the documentary’s two cameramen, who allegedly celebrated the October 7 Hamas attacks on social media.

The BBC has also been accused of mistranslating the Arabic word ‘Yehudi’ meaning ‘Jews’ to ‘Israelis’ in the programme.

The BBC has since removed the film from iPlayer.

Speaking at the protest, Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of CAA, said people at the broadcaster need to “lose their jobs” over the film.

MORE LIKE THIS:

• BBC mistranslated references to ‘Jews’ and ‘jihad’ in Gaza documentary as pressure rises to reveal whether taxpayers’ money was given to Hamas
• BBC branded an ‘absolute disgrace’ after pulling shocking Hamas documentary: ‘They know they are wrong!’
• BBC Gaza documentary featuring Hamas official’s son pulled from iPlayer after outrage

He added: “Has our licence fee money gone to Hamas? The BBC doesn’t even seem to be able to tell us, but they spent £400,000 on this thing.

“It seems inconceivable that some of that money hasn’t gone to people who are in some way associated with Hamas. And we need to find out now. And people need to lose their jobs.”

Michael Marlowe, the father of Jake Marlowe who was killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, also told the crowd: “For decades, the BBC stood as the bastion of honest and trustworthy reporting.

“It was the world’s first port of call for global and national news, respected for its integrity and neutrality. But that BBC is long gone.”

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded urgent answers from the BBC on whether licence-fee money was given to terrorists in Gaza.

Badenoch called for an inquiry into “potential collusion with Hamas” and the “possibility of payment” to members of the proscribed terror organisation.

The corporation has said it is conducting “further due diligence” with production company Hoyo Films.

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The BBC has no shame and Britain has had enough. For over sixteen months, we have watched our national broadcaster provide ever more sympathetic coverage to a proscribed terrorist organisation, hiding behind claims of impartiality.”

“There is nothing impartial about giving credibility to the claims of terrorists. Providing a platform for terrorists’ propaganda, downplaying their crimes and continuing to refuse to call them terrorists is the BBC putting its thumb on the scale. It is extremely partial, and inaccurate. It is a breach of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and a betrayal of licence-fee payers.”

The BBC declined to comment on the protest.