Departing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has joined around 500 TV industry figures in condemning the removal of a controversial BBC Gaza documentary.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone faced a torrent of criticism and claims of bias after it emerged one of the key faces featured in the programme was the son of a Hamas leader.
Abdullah Al-Yazouri, 14 – who narrated much of the documentary – was revealed to be the son of Ayman Alyazouri – Hamas’s deputy chief of agriculture.
The programme also faced criticism for mistranslations, in one case changing a statement that slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was leading a “jihad against the Jews” to saying he was simply fighting “Israeli forces”.
The BBC faced backlash for its Gaza documentary
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The BBC pulled the documentary after outrage of potential bias
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Following the backlash, the BBC pulled the show from its on-demand service iPlayer, the BBC pulled the show from its on-demand service iPlayer.
“There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company,” the BBC said in a statement.
The broadcaster added that while these were “important stories we think should be told”, the programme would not be available during the investigation.
Now, a coalition of TV personalities and industry leaders have called on the BBC to reinstate the controversial show in a letter where the call out the organisation’s “racist assumptions” in pulling it.
Lineker joined other celebs in calling for the documentary to be returned to screens
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Lineker, actress Miriam Margolyes and Countryfile presenter Anita Rani and nine BBC staff were among those putting their name to the petition.
The letter calls the documentary an “essential piece of journalism, offering an all too rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians”.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Al-Yazouri’s father, they blame “broad-brush rhetoric” for presuming that “Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence.”
They call this a “racist trope that denies individuals their humanity and right to share their lived experiences.”
Lineker has previously been embroiled with a political row with the BBC over immigration
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“As industry professionals who craft stories for the British public, including for the BBC, we condemn the weaponisation of a child’s identity and the racist insinuation that Palestinian narratives must be scrutinised through a lens of suspicion,” the letter continued.
“We urge you to reject these tactics, protect vulnerable voices, and reaffirm your commitment to stories that hold power to account.
“Our screens and our society depend on it,” it concludes.
The letter was addressed to BBC director-general Tim Davie and other bosses at the organisation.
Lineker was previously embroiled in a political dispute with the BBC after he was reprimanded for sharing his criticism of the then Tory government’s immigration policies.