600+ leading British Jews call on BBC to restore documentary it deleted to please Israel lobby groups

Reject propagandists’ ‘cynical’ complaints, broadcaster told

A group of more than 250 leading Jewish Britons – a number that is still growing – has written to BBC boss Tim Davie urging him to reject the ‘McCarthyite’ ‘cynical stunt’ of politically-coordinated complaints by the Israeli embassy and pro-Israel pressure groups that have seen the BBC delete its documentary on the suffering of Palestinians, especially the children and young people who make up half of Gaza’s population, during Israel’s genocide there – humanisation that is no doubt the driver for the coordinated pro-Israel outrage.

The group, which includes well-known names such as comedian and writer Alexei Sayle, actor Miriam Margolyes and film-maker Mike Leigh, has called on Davie to resist censorship and reject debunked smears against the children who appear in the documentary, which was made by one of the makers of the BBC’s Blue Planet series and an Emmy-winning independent film-maker.

Alexei Sayle said:

The film shows youngsters coping with death and destruction in a way that is both harrowing and hopeful. It is depressing that the BBC has been bullied into taking it off line. It should be restored for public view without delay.

The letter to Davie, signed by over 250 within just a few hours of the text being circulated, describes the complaint, by “strident” apologists for Israel’s crimes, as a “cynical stunt [intended] to prevent people viewing an account of the effect of Israel’s assault on Gaza on the people trying to live and stay alive there” and commends broadcasters for giving “details about the Israeli hostages and the tragic deaths of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas” and points out that the people of Gaza must also be shown and seen “as full members of humanity deserving our attention and sympathy…The programme should be judged on its own merits and not be subjected to McCarthyite allegations of guilt by association.”

The full letter reads:

Dear Tim Davie,

Reject complaints about ‘Gaza; How to Survive a Warzone’

The BBC should be deluged in plaudits for broadcasting ‘Gaza; How to Survive a Warzone’, not subject to hostility. It is a moving and compassionate look at the terrible suffering endured by Palestinian children over the last year and a half.  We commend the BBC for their courage in making and broadcasting this programme and urge them to maintain that courage against attempts to have it taken down or subjected to unnecessary disavowals.
 

It is impossible to regard the complaint by a number of strident defenders of Israel’s actions about the BBC’s broadcast of this documentary as anything other than a cynical stunt. It is clear their intent is to prevent people viewing an account of the effect of Israel’s assault on Gaza on the people trying to live and stay alive there.
 
Abdullah Al-Yazouri is an articulate presenter of life in Gaza . His father’s job is not relevant. He is a person in his own right and must be judged on his own actions not his father’s or anyone else, whatever the extent of his father’s involvement in agreeing to his taking part in the film.

 
In any case the objectors have not provided any information that his father is a a member of Hamas’s military wing, not that if he were it would affect the standing of his son. His father is deputy minister of agriculture, a middle ranking bureaucrat. No evidence has been presented to suggest that Ayman Al-yazouri used any influence he may have had either to advance the participation of Abdullah or exercise any influence on the content of the programme. If he had the documentary would surely have had fewer or even no criticisms of the actions of Hamas in causing the catastrophe.
 
Had the BBC broadcast a programme featuring the child of an Israeli army officer who had served in Gaza we would not dream of objecting on that account, we would have concentrated on the merit or demerits of the content.
 
We are rightly asked to view details about the Israeli hostages and the tragic deaths of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. In contrast, we do not have stories about individual Palestinian children and mothers who have been killed or the histories of many, if any, of the Palestinians who have been released in the exchanges, a large proportion of whom were imprisoned under administrative detention, without charge or trial and include many children.
 
It is clear that the letter writers regard any effort to show the people of Gaza as full members of humanity deserving our attention and sympathy as not fit for broadcast. The programme should be judged on its own merits and not be subjected to McCarthyite allegations of guilt by association.
 
We urge the BBC to reject these complaints and continue to be proud of and promote an exemplary documentary and not be dissuaded from showing us details of the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

 
Signed (in alphabetical order at 19.00 Friday February 21)

Phil Abel

Helen Abeles

Jeanette Abendstern

Michele Abendstern

John Abraham

Sapphire Allard

Philip Arditti

Deborah Asher

M F Asna

Spencer Banks

John Baruch

Michelle Baruch Baron

Frank Black

Philipa Bragman

Gabriella Braun

Erica Burman

Zana Calhoun

David Cannon

Russell Caplan

Esta Malka Charkham

Johirul Choudhury

Eve Cina

Katie Clarke

Rosalind Clayton

Robert Cohen

Ron Cohen

SR Cohen

Katy Colley

Judith Lesser Cravitz

Sheila Curran

Oliver Currie

Mike Cushman

Hilary De Santos

Alan Deadman

Ivor Dembina

David Denison

Shaheda Dewan

Elizabeth Dresner

Linda Edmondson

Rosalind Edwards

David Epstein

Rayah Feldman

Sam Ferguson

Sonia Florent

Dr Jonathan Fluxman

Jeremy Fox

Nancy Frankel

Jonathan Franklin

Daniel Friedman

Debbie Friedman

Dave Gatrell

Jane Gatrell

Carolyn Gelenter

Vicki Gilbert

Rose Glandfield

Louise Glatt

Rob Goddard

Simon Goodman

Tinka Gordon

Monica Gort

Tony Graham

Ros Hancock

Alison Harris

Caroline Harris

Louise Harrison

Andrew Hornung

Rachel-Leah Hosker

Susan Hughes

Adam Hurst

Claire Jackson

Steve Jansky

Leon Jevons

MR William J Johnston

Jenny Kassman

Ian Kemp

Monash Kessler

Dr Agnes Kory

Ann Kramer

Jay Kramer

Judith Kramer

M Landauer

Bernice Laschinger

Ruth Lass

Michelle Laufer

Felicity Rose Laurence

Louise Lee

Reginald Lee

Joanna Leigh

Mike Leigh

Helen Lentell

Jessica Leschnikoff

Leah Levane

Les Levidow

Annie Levy

Jenny Lewenstein

Peter Lewis

Robert Lizar

Dave Lukes

Sue Lukes

Ruth Lukom

Nina Lyndon

John Lynes

Dr. Viv Mackay

Jenny Manson

Kristina Manson

Miriam Margolyes

Stephen Marks

Helen Martins

Terence James McGinity

Linda Meehan

Dr Laura Miller

David Mond

Alice Mutasa

Diana Neslen

Michael Newbold

Paul O’Hanlon

Kevin O’Neill

Gary Ostrolenk

Dr William Owen

Mark Owen

Sue Owen

Ellie Palmer

Bob Phillips

Charlie Phillips

Sol Picciotto

Miranda Pinch

Anna Pollert

Stefan Povolotsky

Charlotte Prager Williams

Caroline Raine

Jenny Richardson

Marion Roberts

Neil Rogall

Steve Roman

Benny Ross

Pete Sacker

Naomi Salaman

Ben Samuel

Joel Samuels

Myra Sands

Esther Saraga

Alexei Sayle

Rachel Schraer

Glyn Secker

Marian Sedley

Lynne Segal

Dr Malcolm Segall

Paul Seligman

Sue Shaw

Peter Sheridan

Roger Silverman

Gillian Slovo

Clare Smith

Leni Solinger

Stephen Solley

Nika Soon-Shiong

Tamara Stanton

Patrick Sternberg

Shafia Stevens

Emili Stevenson

Vanessa Stilwell

Oren Stone

Emma Tait

Alma Toiber Kent

Misha Vertkin

Daniel Vulliamy

Dr Rodney Watts

Leo Wax

Naomi Wayne

Sam K Weinstein

Barry Weitz

Janet Weitz

Ivan Wels

Dr G.M. Wilmers

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi

Deborah Windley

Professor Richard Wistreich

Gillian Yudkin

Professor John S Yudkin

Update: the title and content of this article has been amended to reflect the new number of 600+ signatories and still climbing. See the latest list of signatures here.

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