TV industry urges MPs to press BBC execs over Gaza documentary removal
UK TV and film programme-makers have urged a panel of MPs to press BBC executives on Tuesday over the controversial removal of a documentary about children in Gaza.
The UK Screen Industry group sent a letter (copied below) to members of the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee on Monday, the day before they grill BBC director-general Tim Davie and chair Dr Samir Shah.
The group urged the lawmakers to ask Davie and Dr Shah to “clarify the specific editorial standards relied upon and the decision-making processes that led” to the axing of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, a move which has prompted concerns of racism and censorship.
UK Screen Industry also requested the CMS Committee quiz the BBC bosses over how the public broadcaster “intends to uphold its commitment to impartiality and freedom of expression in its future commissioning decisions”.
They said many were being forced to conclude the BBC is “not a safe place for programme-makers reporting on Palestinian suffering”.
It comes after UK Screen Industry last week coordinated a letter to the BBC board signed by over 1,000 media figures, including Gary Lineker, Brian Cox, Miriam Margolyes, Sangita Myska, Nish Kumar, and Khalid Abdalla. The letter warned against axing the film, which had first been pulled from the broadcaster’s iPlayer streaming service while additional “due diligence” checks occurred.
The BBC board failed to heed the call, caving to a politicised campaign against the documentary and endangering the future of public interest broadcasting in the UK.
IMPORTANT NOTE: UK Screen Industry is an unaffiliated, independent group of media professionals. Artists for Palestine UK is honoured to host statements from independent initiatives that seek to defend the democratic, transparent and fair functioning of our institutions and which share our values with regards to equality and anti-racism.
Read the letter in full:
Monday, 3rd March 2025
Dear Chair and Honourable Members of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee,
We are writing to bring to your immediate attention concerns regarding the BBC’s recent decision to withdraw the documentary ‘Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone’. This matter is particularly pertinent as the Committee is scheduled to take oral evidence from the BBCs Chair and Director-General tomorrow.
On February 26, 2025, over 500 film and television industry professionals addressed a letter to the BBC Board, condemning what they perceive as censorship and racism following the BBCs decision to pull the documentary. As of today, that letter has been signed by over 1000 industry professionals, including commissioning editors, executive producers, directors, producers, documentary editors, journalists, presenters, technicians, actors, runners, and many others, including over a dozen current BBC employees. The letter, published on our behalf by Artists for Palestine UK, can be accessed here:
Subsequent to our letter, the BBC Board issued a statement following their meeting last Thursday, which many in the industry perceive as an attempt to shift blame onto the filmmakers. The conclusion that many are being forced to draw from the BBCs handling of this matter is that the BBC is not a safe place for programme-makers reporting on Palestinian suffering.
We are also deeply concerned that, in the rush of headlines and heated debate, a fundamental issue has been all but forgotten: the duty of care to the very young children affected by this conflict. Their experiences should not be sidelined; safeguarding their voices and stories should be sacrosanct and a primary concern in any responsible coverage.
Given these developments, we respectfully urge the Committee to put the following concernsandquestions to the BBCs Chair and Director-General during the upcoming session:
“The decision to withdraw the film raises serious concerns about potential breaches of the BBC’s legal, regulatory, and ethical obligations under its Royal Charter, Editorial Guidelines, and Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code.
“In light of these concerns, and the substantial support for the film Gaza: Surviving a War Zone from over 1,000 industry professionals, the allegations of censorship and racism following its withdrawal, and the fact that nothing within the film has been found to be factually inaccurate, can you clarify the specific editorial standards relied upon and the decision-making processes that led to the film’s removal?
“How does the BBC intend to uphold its commitment to impartiality and freedom of expression in its future commissioning decisions?”
We believe that posing this question will facilitate a transparent discussion on the BBC’s editorial policies and its commitment to upholding public trust, journalistic integrity, and creative freedom.
Thank you for your attention to this pressing matter.
Radiohead’s concert is itself a political statement, and a deeply divisive one. It’s telling the Israeli public they really don’t need to bother their heads with the Occupation and the boring old story of Palestinian suffering.
Wadi Fukin, a small Palestinian village, over which towers the illegal settlement of Beitar Illit. The village mayor has said the Israelis ‘have this plan [to make] Wadi Fukin like an island. They want to build a new settlement to the south of the village, it’s like a link between Beitar Illit and [another settlement]…
Waters: ‘Nick thinks this is about censorship of his music? What? Nick, with all due respect, your music is irrelevant to this issue, so is mine, so is Brian Eno’s so is Beethoven’s, this isn’t about music, it’s about human rights.’
In our letter published in the Guardian yesterday and copied below, 20 British filmmakers and writers including Mike Leigh, Leila Sansour, Ken Loach and Prahitbha Parmar criticise the hosting of an Israeli government sponsored film festival in the UK. The letter cites the findings of the recent UN report on Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Gaza. It compares celebrity…
“Who would have thought it, that Nick Cave would allow himself to ease the conscience of a major oppressor? No-one is ‘trying to silence artists’, it is children who are being silenced, it is a whole people that is being denied its right to exist, and it is common decency, not artistic freedom, that is at stake in Israel’s ongoing aggression towards the Palestinians… Fighting for common decency is a matter of solidarity — of maintaining a vision of what is right, in the face of overwhelming powers — and he has, by his vanity, broken a picket-line.” Andrew O’Hagan, author.
Award-winning actor Juliet Stevenson has released the short film, ‘A Licence to Kill’, calling on the UK government to stop providing Israel with the weapons it uses to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
