In mid-February 2025 the BBC began promoting a documentary set to be aired on BBC Two, with viewing available on BBC iPlayer for an additional eleven months.
The synopsis to that film – titled “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” – described it as a “dramatic documentary”:
“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.
Israel does not allow foreign journalists to report independently in Gaza. To make this film, two producers based in London remotely directed two cameramen on the ground in Gaza over nine months, gaining access to key locations out of reach to foreign press.
The dramatic documentary sheds new light on life inside Gaza’s humanitarian ‘safe zone’ – showing everyday life with ongoing airstrikes and efforts to keep people alive in its only functioning permanent hospital, Al-Aqsa.”
Presumably, even the BBC could not have guessed how dramatic that production would turn out to be.
Below is a timeline of events pertaining to that documentary, including the BBC’s own reporting on the story and some – but by no means all – of the related media coverage.
February 15:
Promotion on the BBC News website:
The BBC News website published two items promoting the film:
“‘We followed lives of three children surviving war in Gaza. Here’s what we found’” Jamie Roberts, 15/2/25
“Boy, 11, living alone in Gaza hospital, has ‘witnessed scenes no child should see’” 15/2/25
February 17:
Promotion on BBC World Service:
The programme was aired at 21:00 UK time on BBC Two (UK only) with a second showing scheduled for February 19th.
February 18:
Independent investigative journalist David Collier published his research relating to the documentary: ‘BBC put on a Hamas Propaganda Pantomime’
Media reports:
‘BBC accused of using Hamas official’s son in documentary about ‘ordinary Palestinians’’ Telegraph
‘BBC faces criticism after claims of Hamas link to Gaza film’ Jewish News
February 19:
The BBC issued a statement on its ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ page:
Additional issues relating to the film were raised.
Media reports:
‘BBC accused of using child narrator with Hamas family ties in ‘propaganda’ documentary’ Jewish Chronicle
‘The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) told the JC: “The BBC has repeatedly alleged that any under par reporting from the Gaza Strip throughout the past 16 months is the fault of Israel, due to restrictions on the entry of foreign journalists into an active war zone.
“It is of course worth remembering that Egypt has placed identical restrictions – usually not noted by the BBC – and that when the war broke out, the corporation did have an active Gaza bureau, staffed by local journalists, some of whom later chose to leave the territory. Throughout most of the past 16 months, the BBC has used local freelancers to produce reports from the Gaza Strip, usually without identifying them.
“The result of that policy has been incessant and uncritical amplification of propaganda supplied by Hamas ministries and agencies. The results of David Collier’s research into the background to this BBC documentary will hence come as no surprise to those familiar with the corporation’s record of reporting from the Gaza Strip since October 7 2023.”’
‘BBC accused of spreading propaganda after airing Gaza doc featuring Hamas official’s son’ New York Post/JNS
‘The BBC’s Gaza documentary omitted something astonishing’ Spectator
‘Dozens of Jewish media figures sign letter questioning BBC over ‘propaganda’ documentary’ Jewish Chronicle
February 20:
CAMERA UK documented a mistranslation in the promotional video published on the BBC News website on February 15th:
BBC GAZA DOCUMENTARY REPEATS PAST MISTRANSLATIONS
Additional issues relating to the documentary were raised.
The BBC’s culture department reported that “The culture secretary has said she will raise concerns with BBC bosses about a documentary on Gaza that was narrated by the son of a Hamas official”:
‘BBC faces questions over Gaza film’s Hamas link’ Ian Youngs
Media reports:
February 21:
The BBC issued an update to its previous statement and removed the programme from BBC iPlayer pending “due diligence”.
‘BBC pulls Gaza film as it carries out checks over Hamas links’ Ian Youngs
The promotions published days earlier were taken down and promotion of the film to ‘Newsround’ younger audiences was apparently removed from YouTube.
The anti-Israel fringe group ‘Jewish Voice for Labour’ sent a letter to the BBC defending the documentary.
February 22:
Media reports:
‘Who is responsible for the BBC’s Gaza documentary debacle?’ Spectator
‘Pressure grows on BBC as leaked papers point to Gaza film cover-up’ Daily Mail
February 24:
Media reports:
‘BBC Gaza documentary cameraman appears to celebrate October 7 attacks’ Telegraph
February 25:
The Telegraph published research by CAMERA Arabic documenting additional mistranslations in the documentary: ‘BBC removed references to ‘Jews’ and ‘jihad’ in Gaza documentary’
The Campaign Against Antisemitism held a protest outside BBC headquarters.
Media reports:
“The shocking tweets were uncovered by The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).
A spokesman for Camera said: ‘These posts appear to be glorifying the horrific terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023.
‘Anyone who wrote them has no place working for the BBC. Here is yet more evidence of the editorial failings in the documentary for which the BBC must answer.’”
“The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) uncovered tweets by Mr Rawagh, according to The Telegraph. […]
A spokesman for Camera said: “These posts appear to be glorifying the horrific terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023.
“Anyone who wrote them has no place working for the BBC.
“Here is yet more evidence of the editorial failings in the documentary for which the BBC must answer.”
February 26:
A group called ‘Artists for Palestine UK’ published an open letter criticising the BBC’s removal of the documentary from iPlayer.
‘BBC criticised by 500 media figures for pulling Gaza documentary’ Steven McIntosh
OMISSIONS IN BBC REPORTING ON CRITICISM OF REMOVAL OF GAZA DOCUMENTARY
Media reports:
‘BBC accused of ‘whitewashing Gazan antisemitism’ over translations in dropped documentary’ Jewish Chronicle
“Campaign group the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) claimed that the BBC mistranslated the Arabic words “Yahud” or “Yahudi”, meaning Jew or Jewish, as “Israeli”.”
‘Gary Lineker among celebrity signatories of letter criticising BBC for dropping controversial Gaza documentary’ Jewish Chronicle
“And a wave of allegations are still emerging – with a report yesterday from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) sharing a review of some of the Arabic interviews used in the programme.
Camera claimed that the discussions had been incorrectly translated to remove references to “jihad” and changing interviewees’ criticism of “Jews” to that of “Israelis”.”
‘BBC’s Accidental Hamas Profile Just the Latest Incident in Long Anti-Israel Track Record’ National Review
“Now, amid rising scrutiny, translations by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis found several inaccurate translations, with the BBC being accused of “whitewashing” the views of people in the film.”
‘BBC accused of ‘whitewashing’ Gaza documentary as references to ‘Jews’ and ‘jihad’ removed’ LBC
‘Mr Rawagh’s tweets were uncovered by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).
A spokesman for Camera said: “These posts appear to be glorifying the horrific terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023. Anyone who wrote them has no place working for the BBC. Here is yet more evidence of the editorial failings in the documentary for which the BBC must answer.”’
‘Lost in translation? BBC edits Hamas to be more palatable’ Israel HaYom
‘According to the Telegraph and Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), throughout the film, the words “Jew” or “Jewish” were translated as “Israel,” “Israeli forces,” or removed from subtitles – in at least five different instances. This way, antisemitic statements against Jews would sound like statements against Israel. An interviewee who praised Yahya Sinwar, former Hamas leader, for “jihad against the Jews,” was also mistranslated, as if he was “fighting Israeli forces.”’
‘BBC Gaza documentary translates ‘Jihad’ to ‘resistance,’ ‘Jews’ to ‘Israeli army’’ Times of Israel
“The mistranslations were first highlighted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), a US-based pro-Israel media watchdog, which offered more accurate translations of the film’s original Arabic to contrast the BBC’s version.”
February 27:
Questions and calls for an independent inquiry were raised in Parliament.
Following a meeting of the BBC Board, the BBC Media Centre issued another statement.
“BBC News has conducted an initial review on the programme “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone”. Today the BBC Board was updated on that work. It has identified serious flaws in the making of this programme. Some of these were made by the production company, and some by the BBC; 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. […]
Given the BBC’s own failings, the Director-General has asked for complaints on this matter to be expedited to the Executive Complaints Unit, which is separate from BBC News. Alongside this a full fact-finding review will be undertaken; the Director-General has asked Peter Johnston to lead this work.”
‘BBC review finds ‘serious flaws’ over Gaza documentary’ Jamie Whitehead and Francesca Gillett
Media reports:
‘BBC admits family of Hamas minister WAS PAID for Gaza documentary’ Jewish News
“New translations by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) have raised further questions about the BBC’s handling of the film.”
‘How luvvies became the useful idiots of Hamas’ Spiked
“Something else happened yesterday, too: it was revealed that the BBC mistranslated the comments of some of the participants in the doc. Camera – the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis – found five instances of the filmmakers changing ‘the Jews’ to ‘Israeli forces’. So the doc’s subtitles show a woman describing 7 October as ‘the first time we invaded Israel’. But what she actually said was: ‘We were invading the Jews for the first time.’ In the most egregious mistranslation, a woman is shown lauding Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader killed by Israel last October. He was ‘fighting and resisting Israeli forces’, her subtitles say. But her mouth said something else. ‘He was engaging in… jihad against the Jews’ – those were her real words.”
‘BBC removes mentions of Jihad, Jews from Hamas-linked documentary’ Jerusalem Post
“The Telegraph reported that in several instances in the film, the Arabic words Yahud or Yahud, meaning “Jews,” were translated as “Israel” or “Israeli forces” or were completely removed from the subtitles. Mistranslations were originally highlighted by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA).”
February 28:
A meeting between the Culture Secretary and the Chair of the BBC was announced, along with a DCMS committee meeting on March 4th.
The anti-Israel organisation ‘The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians’ lodged a complaint against the BBC’s removal of the documentary from iPlayer.
‘Questions still remain for BBC after damaging Gaza documentary’ Katie Razzall, BBC culture and media editor
OMISSIONS IN BBC REPORTING ON CRITICISM OF REMOVAL OF GAZA DOCUMENTARY
Media reports:
‘This week of shame proves the BBC can no longer be trusted to clean up its own scandals’ Telegraph
‘BBC apologises for ‘flaws’ in Gaza documentary, including paying family with Hamas links’ Jewish Chronicle
‘MPs call for independent investigation into BBC Gaza documentary’ Jewish Chronicle
‘Culture Secretary summons BBC chair to ‘urgent’ meeting over Hamas-linked film’ Independent
March 3:
OFCOM informed the BBC Chair of potential intervention should the internal investigation prove to be unsatisfactory.
March 4:
The BBC Director General and the BBC Chairman appeared at a Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee meeting, with the latter calling for an independent review of the corporation’s Middle East coverage.
‘‘I lost trust’ in Gaza film, says BBC boss Tim Davie’ James Gregory
The issue was also raised in the House of Lords.
Media reports:
‘BBC Chair calls for ‘independent review’ of Middle East coverage’ Jewish Chronicle
‘Labour peer joins calls for ‘proper independent review’ into BBC Middle East coverage’ Jewish News
This post will be updated as necessary.
It is high time the BBC were prosecuted for their support and payment to a terrorist organisation. Heads must roll and BBC News be shut down or completely restaffed. It has been riddled with antisemites for over forty years and they still not released Balen report which no doubt proved that twenty years ago and just as with other scandals, nothing was ever done about it. This is a Christian country yet the BBC has had a Muslim head of religious programming promoting Islam and suppressing other religions for eighteen years and the British public are forced by law to pay an annual fee for this dross. #defundthebbc