Gary Lineker slammed and BBC branded 'mouthpiece for terrorists' over Gaza 'propaganda' tv show
27 February 2025, 08:35 | Updated: 27 February 2025, 14:07
Gary Lineker has been accused of helping the BBC spread 'propaganda' after calling for a controversial Gaza tv show to be reinstated.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The Match of the Day presenter has "become an emblem of all that is wrong at the BBC" after he called for the show to be put back on iPlayer after being taken down.
He sparked fury by leading dozens of celebrities who have written a letter urging the BBC to bring back the controversial tv show which has led to accusations of bias after it emerged one of the cameramen celebrated the October 7 terror attacks and that it featured the grandson of a senior Hamas figure.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has told the Commons today that she has sought "cast-iron assurances" that Hamas has not received any money from the BBC.
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, told LBC News: “There are children in Gaza who've appeared on a film.
"One of them is the son of a high ranking Hamas official. And how on earth can the BBC possibly already be sure that no money has gone over there? It just doesn't make sense, you know, why on earth would somebody pay £400,000 for this thing?
"And what are we supposed to believe, that none of the people who appeared in the film are actually being paid for it? It just, it just sort of beggars belief.”
Slamming the former footballer, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Anti-Semitism added: “Gary Lineker is becoming the emblem of all that is wrong at the BBC. Executives have lavished him with licence-fee payers’ money but accept his increasingly disturbing interventions on matters that concern neither football nor crisps, which seem to be his specialist subjects.
"It is alarming that Mr Lineker thinks that it is due to racism that the BBC has pulled off air a long-form propaganda film that quite possibly saw the BBC hand money to a high-ranking official of a murderous terrorist organisation.
"How can Mr Lineker claim to be a humanitarian while uncritically defending a so-called documentary that even went so far as to deliberately mistranslate praise for a ‘jihad’ against ‘Jews’ so that audiences did not know the truth?
"The BBC’s bias and lack of accountability have led it to a new low, where it is a mouthpiece for terrorists and their supporters. That is why 1,000 people gathered outside the BBC last night to protest.
"Since then, hundreds of people have been contacting us to say that they will no longer be paying the licence fee. We consider it unconscionable to require people to send money to an institution that covers for terrorists and may even have sent money to Hamas. We believe that the license fee should be suspended pending a full independent inquiry into bias at the BBC.”
Why is the BBC being accused of making a 'Hamas propaganda film'? Jon Sopel explains
Last week, the BBC apologised after it emerged that the film's child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.
Following the discovery about Abdullah Al-Yazouri, who speaks about what life is like in the territory amid the war between Israel and Hamas, the BBC later added a disclaimer to the programme and has since removed the film from its online catch-up service.
In an open letter addressed to the BBC's director general Tim Davie, chairman Samir Shah and chief content officer Charlotte Moore, hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists criticised the decision to remove it as "politically motivated censorship".
Read more: BBC Gaza documentary cameraman ‘celebrated October 7 attacks’ as cost of film is revealed
The letter reads: "This film is an essential piece of journalism, offering an all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinian children living in unimaginable circumstances, which amplifies voices so often silenced."
Mr Lowe said in response: "I simply do not care about Gary Lineker's opinion on Gaza.
"The days of self-righteous actors and presenters having any real influence are thankfully over.
"Anything useful these 'media figures' know about the Middle East is restricted to the hummus section in Waitrose."
Israel's ambassador to the UK separately criticised the decision to broadcast it in the first place.
Tsipi Hotovely said: "Following my letter to the Director General, I welcome the BBC's decision to pull the documentary from its online platform with immediate effect.
"However, the fact remains that this production should have never made it to air given the undeniable bias of both the camera crew and its contributors.
"This ordeal brings into question the BBC's journalistic standards, its commitment to impartiality and its credibility.
"A full and transparent review into how this documentary was produced and released must now follow."
Meanwhile a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: "The BBC's bias and lack of accountability have led it to a new low, where it is a mouthpiece for terrorists and their supporters."
They continued: "We believe that the license fee should be suspended pending a full independent inquiry into bias at the BBC."
Further accusations have been made about Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, such as claims that other children were pictured with the militant group Hamas.
The letter from celebrities says Mr Al-Yazouri "served as Gaza's deputy minister of agriculture, a civil service role concerned with food production".
It continues: "Conflating such governance roles in Gaza with terrorism is both factually incorrect and dehumanising.
"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."
Of his son, Abdullah, the letter adds: "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."
The letter, published in full on the Artists for Palestine UK website, continues: "As industry professionals who craft stories for the British public, including for the BBC, we condemn the weaponisation of a child's identity and the racist insinuation that Palestinian narratives must be scrutinised through a lens of suspicion.
"We urge you to reject these tactics, protect vulnerable voices, and reaffirm your commitment to stories that hold power to account."
Other signatories include actors Riz Ahmed, Juliet Stevenson and Khalid Abdalla, playwright Hanif Kureishi and broadcaster Anita Rani.
The BBC said earlier this week the film "features important stories we think should be told - those of the experiences of children in Gaza" but that it would not be available on iPlayer while the broadcaster conducted "further due diligence with the production company".
On Tuesday, dozens of protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House in London claiming the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.
The demonstration was organised by CAA, which has also criticised the BBC's coverage of hostage handovers in recent weeks.
In a statement on Wednesday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she had discussed the documentary with Tim Davie in which she expressed her "deep concern" about the issues surrounding the film.
She added: "It is paramount that the investigation the BBC is conducting sheds light on what happened and who knew what when. I expect to be kept informed of the outcome of their investigation."
The TV show, made by London-based production company Hoyo Films, was initially broadcast on February 17 at 9pm on BBC Two.
