The British Broadcasting Corporation "whitewashed" and covered up jihadist and antisemitic expressions from Gazan Hamas supporters in its controversial documentary "Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone," according to an investigation published Tuesday in the British Telegraph.
According to the Telegraph and Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), throughout the film, the words "Jew" or "Jewish" were translated as "Israel," "Israeli forces," or removed from subtitles – in at least five different instances. This way, antisemitic statements against Jews would sound like statements against Israel. An interviewee who praised Yahya Sinwar, former Hamas leader, for "jihad against the Jews," was also mistranslated, as if he was "fighting Israeli forces."
This is the second time within a week that the film, intended to reflect Palestinian life during wartime, has sparked public criticism. Previously, it was revealed that one of the main interviewees is 14-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri, son of Hamas' deputy agriculture minister. Al-Yazouri was presented in the film without proper disclosure of his family connections.
Following al-Yazouri's appearance, the British opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch from the Conservative Party, approached BBC Director General Tim Davie demanding to check whether the network transferred money to Hamas, and even threatened to lead a move to cancel the television license fee responsible for funding the broadcasting corporation. Following the interview with the Hamas senior official's son, the broadcasting authority removed the film from its website and published an apology.
During the film, a Gazan woman is seen fleeing from areas captured by the IDF in the Strip. She responds to the cameraman's question "What's happening?" saying: "The Jews invaded our area." However, in the subtitles, she is quoted as if she said: "The Israeli army invaded our area."
In another scene, a child explains that he left home because of the bombings. "The Jews came, destroyed us, Hamas and the Jews," was translated in the subtitles to "Israelis destroyed everything, and so did Hamas."
Later, a scene shows a doctor amputating a child's arm. The medic is quoted as saying: "Look what the Israelis are doing to the children of Gaza." However, he never actually used the word "Israeli" according to the translation by CAMERA.
When a girl observes Iranian missiles fired toward Israel in October, the subtitles state: "We are used to seeing flashes of lightning in the sky. But now it's real missiles. We're happy that for once the rockets aren't falling on us." In reality, she says: "At first, when we would see these [flashes], they would be flares, by the way. From the Jews. But now they turned out to be [real] missiles."
A minute later, a woman is interviewed about Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. She is quoted as if she said: "This is the first time we invaded Israel – it was always the other way round." In fact, she says: "We were invading the Jews for the first time."
Toward the end of the film, a woman shows photos of Sinwar during his assassination. In the subtitles, she is quoted as if she said: "His face was covered and his weapon was ready, prepared for battle." The CAMERA translation reveals that she actually said he was "ready for jihad." She is quoted in the subtitles: "The video shows he was fighting and resisting Israeli forces. He wasn't hiding." But in reality, she says: "Sinwar engaged in resistance in jihad against the Jews. Not underground."
🔴 BBC removed references to 'Jews' and 'jihad' in Gaza documentary pic.twitter.com/WHFRgoHOYC
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 25, 2025
Melanie Dawes, CEO of Ofcom (the UK's communications regulatory body), noted that the BBC is dealing with "some really important questions," adding that the organization is watching closely what happens, conducting several conversations with the corporation, and will wait for its response before deciding whether to take action or not.
Alex Hearn from Labour Against Antisemitism said that the mistranslation of the word "Jew" to "Israeli" is a continuation of "the BBC's sympathetic coverage of Hamas." "In so doing, the BBC have sanitized views expressed about Sinwar, orchestrator of the Hamas massacre, and instead presented a more acceptable version for a Western audience," he said. He added: "It is this whitewashing that keeps viewers ill-informed about the nature of Hamas, and promotes sympathy for their deadly ideology. This documentary signifies the institutional failure behind the BBC's reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict."
Campaign Against Antisemitism, an organization that exposes and counters antisemitism, called the documentary a "Hamas propaganda film" and accused the BBC of "providing a megaphone for Hamas claims."
Orly Goldschmidt, from the Israeli Embassy in Britain, further accused the corporation of "intentional mistranslation," describing it as a "sinister and misleading policy of the BBC." According to her, the translation was "not only false and deeply offensive, but it also excuses racism" and "does not allow viewers to see how children, and Palestinians at large, have been taught to hate Jews from a very young age." She added that omitting the word "jihad downplays the threat of terrorism that Israelis face on a daily basis," and that the issue of mistranslation "reflects a very serious and systematic issue, which has taken root at the BBC, with regards to its anti-Israel bias."
A spokesperson for the corporation did not respond to the Telegraph and CAMERA's translation check, but said, "The film features important stories we think should be told – those of the experiences of children in Gaza. 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 programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place."
