Gaza documentary is a damning indictment of the BBC’s journalism
This week, the UK's national broadcaster managed to reached a new low.
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Already mired in a myriad of allegations of anti-Israel bias, largely pertaining to their coverage of the last sixteen months, the BBC decided to release an insufficiently-researched documentary. The documentary was then pushed extensively across its many platforms.
Among the many issues with the documentary was their choice of protagonist and narrator Abdullah, who, it transpires, is in fact the son of a senior Hamas official in Gaza and is part of the same familial clan as one of Hamas's co-founders.
This, of course, was never stated in the documentary in which Abdullah is portrayed as an ordinary and impartial 14-year-old boy. For an organisation purportedly concerned about balance and impartiality, such a revelation should have immediately prompted the BBC to pull the documentary from its platforms. It did not.
Instead, the BBC said they would add a short disclaimer but that the documentary met its impartiality standards. What a damning indictment of journalism.
I find it remarkable that the BBC would choose to put its resources into amplifying the voice of a minor whose guardian is a paid-up senior official of a UK-recognised terror group. The fact that the senior management team at the BBC feels emboldened enough to defend the documentary speaks volumes about the issue of anti-Israel hatred at the BBC.
It should be added that another of the four main characters in this particular documentary has previously been filmed expressing support for Mohammed Deif - a mastermind of the 7th October massacres.
As if that wasn't enough, one of two cameramen used in the production of the documentary, seemingly celebrated the 7th October attacks on his social media as well.
The BBC has many questions to answer for.
On Wednesday, Israel's Ambassador to the UK sent an official letter to the Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie. We await his response.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote that death and taxes are the only two certainties in this world. I would add another: anti-Israel bias at the BBC.
Orly Goldschmidt is the Spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel to the UK
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