More than 500 film, television and media workers have denounced censorship and racism after the BBC pulled a documentary about children’s lives in Gaza.
Media experts, including 12 BBC staff, sent a letter to the broadcaster’s leadership on Wednesday, where they denounced “racist” and “dehumanisation” campaigns targeting the film Gaza: How to survive the war zone.
The BBC removed the documentary from the Iplayer streaming service after pressure from Israeli supporters. In a note to viewers, a “question” was raised about the film, saying that “we are implementing further due diligence to the production company.”
Media workers wrote: “Under this political football, there are children who are in the most dire situations of young lives, which must remain at the heart of this debate.
“As a program maker, we are very unsure about the intervention of partisan political actors on this issue and what this means for the future of broadcasting in this country.”
The film they added “a too enthusiastic perspective on the living experiences of Palestinian children” and “deserves recognition” rather than censorship.
The BBC board is scheduled to discuss the documentary on Thursday.
Last year, more than 100 BBC staff accused broadcasters of giving Israeli coverage in reporting the war with Gaza, criticising the lack of “accurate evidence-based journalism.”