BBC faces possible terror probe over payments to family of Hamas terrorist
Metropolitan police 'assessing whether police action is required' after the broadcast of Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone
Richard Ferrer has been editor of Jewish News since 2009. As one of Britain's leading Jewish voices he writes for The Times, Independent, New Statesman and many other titles. Richard previously worked at the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, edited the Boston Jewish Advocate and created the Channel 4 TV series Jewish Mum Of The Year.
The BBC is facing scrutiny under anti-terror laws after admitting that the family of a senior Hamas terrorist was paid for their involvement in the disgraced documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone.
The corporation has issued an apology for what it describes as “serious flaws” in the making of the programme, confirming that it will not be broadcast again or reinstated on BBC iPlayer.
The scandal erupted after it was revealed that the documentary’s child narrator, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has served as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture. The BBC has admitted that an independent production company, Hoyo Films, paid the boy’s mother “a limited sum of money for the narration” via his sister’s bank account.
The revelations have sparked concerns that British licence fee payers’ money may have indirectly supported a terrorist organisation. Shadow Culture Secretary Stuart Andrew has called for urgent clarity on the matter.
The Daily Mail quotes a spokesperson for the Metropolitan police as saying: “We’re aware of a BBC documentary about Gaza and we have received a number of reports raising concerns. Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required in relation to this matter.”
After the BBC became aware of Abdullah’s connection to Hamas, the documentary was pulled from the broadcaster’s online catch-up service, and a formal internal review was launched.
A BBC spokesperson admitted the review had “identified serious flaws in the making of this programme.” They acknowledged that failures were made both by the BBC and Hoyo Films, stating: “All of them are unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the corporation’s reputation. We apologise for this.”
The statement emphasised that trust in BBC journalism had been damaged and that while the documentary’s purpose was to shed light on global conflict zones, the editorial process had fallen short of expectations.
One of the key failures highlighted in the review was the lack of transparency around the narrator’s family connections. The BBC claims it repeatedly asked Hoyo Films about any links between the child’s family and Hamas but was never informed of his father’s governmental role.
“Since transmission, they [Hoyo Films] have acknowledged that they knew the boy’s father was a deputy agriculture minister in the Hamas government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact,” the spokesperson said. “It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.”
Hoyo Films has stated that it is “co-operating fully” with the BBC’s internal investigation.
The BBC Board has described the mistakes in the documentary’s production as “significant and damaging,” stating that while the subject matter was legitimate, “nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism.” The Board has instructed the Executive to report back as soon as possible on the findings of the investigation commissioned by the BBC’s director-general.
The scandal has drawn criticism from all sides. Former BBC One controller Danny Cohen has called for a full independent inquiry into how the documentary was approved.
Meanwhile, a protest outside BBC Broadcasting House accused the corporation of airing Hamas propaganda.
However, more than 500 media figures, including Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed, and Miriam Margolyes, have condemned the BBC’s decision to remove the documentary, signing an open letter calling the action “politically motivated censorship”.
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