Gary Lineker has slammed the BBC. (Image: Getty)
Gary Lineker has slammed BBC after the broadcaster pulled a documentary about Gaza, which critics have branded “Hamas propaganda”.
Lineker was one of 500 TV industry figures who signed a letter accusing the of “bowing to censorship”.
The documentary, titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was pulled by the broadcaster, after reporters discovered that one of the children that the film follows is the son of a Hamas government figure.
The outgoing Match of the Day presenter, who earns nearly £1.5m-a-year through his salary, was one of 500 TV industry figures to sign a letter sent on Wednesday to the broadcaster’s bosses Samir Shah, Tim Davie and Charlotte Moore.
The letter, seen by the Guardian newspaper, describes the documentary as “an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians”.
According to the outlet, the letter says that criticism of the film is based on “racist assumptions and weaponisation of identity”.
Critics of the 59-minute documentary found that its 14-year-old narrator, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, is the son of a Hamas agriculture minister. Alex Hearn, from Labour Against Antisemitism, said last week: “This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the , with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers’ expense.
Now, TV stars, including Lineker, have signed a letter, which, according to the Guardian, attacks critics of the film.
“This broad-brush rhetoric assumes that Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence – a racist trope that denies individuals their humanity and right to share their lived experiences,” the newspaper claims the letter says.
The letter reportedly goes on to say that criticism levelled against the child narrator fails to take into account “core safeguarding principles”.
It reportedly adds that children “must not be held responsible for the actions of adults, and weaponising family associations to discredit a child’s testimony is both unethical and dangerous”.