The BBC has issued a crawling apology after a controversial documentary about Gaza that was told by the son of a senior Hamas leader.
In a statement, the company recognized 'Serious errors in making the program' that costs more than £ 400,000 to produce.
Controverse around 'Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone' forced the BBC to give an apology and to draw the IPLayer program last week.
The row fell through the streets of the capital on Tuesday evening when Anti-Hamas demonstrators arrived outside the BBC head office in the broadcasting house.
Now, in an update of the BBC, it has confirmed that the father of Abdullah was al-yazouri Ayman al-Yazouri, a deputy Minister of Agriculture in the Hamas government, and that his mother received a 'limited sum of money for the story'.
According to tonight's statement, Hoyo Films – The Independent Production Company, which is located in London – did not tell the Documentary – the BBC several times about potential connections that the narrator and his family have with Hamas.
They only acknowledged that they knew about the connection after the transmission.
While the BBC emphasized that the production company was independent, they accepted that “the processes and implementation of this program did not fall to our expectations.”
Abdullah al-Yazouri (photo), the 14-year-old narrator of the documentary, was the son of Ayman Alyazouri, the vice-minister of agriculture in the government run by Hamas.
Controversy around 'Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone' forced the BBC to give an apology and to draw the IPLayer program last week
Despite the reassurance of Hoyo Film that none of the £ 400,000 budget that was used to make the program was given to all members of Hamas, the BBC has announced a full audit of the program.
The director-general of the BBC has also been ordered for a full fact-finding assessment that will investigate complaints and issues about the documentary.
On Tuesday evening, dozens of protesters gathered outside the office of the BBC to express their disappearance of the documentary.
Dozens of police officers and various police vans were present around the front entrance of the London headquarters of the broadcaster, whereby the central square was deposited so that demonstrators could not reach the main entrance.
Those who were present sang 'terrorist supporters of our screens' and 'Hamas are terrorists, say the words', and accused of the company of 'deliberate bias'.
A spokesperson for the charity behind London's protest, the campaign against anti -Semitism, said that it was “finally time for transparency and accountability” about “whitewashing of terrorism” of the BBC.
Gideon Falter, the Chief Executive of the campaign against anti -Semitism, leaded the crowd, led songs of 'shame, shame, shame' focused in the broadcasting home.
The huge amount was paid to Hoyo Films in London, who was behind the documentary called Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone
The row over the documentary of the BBC, Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone, ran through the streets of the capital when Anti-Hamas demonstrators arrived outside the broadcasting home in Portland Place on Tuesday evening, London arrived
Those who are present sang 'terrorist supporters of our screens' and 'Hamas are terrorists, say the words', and accused of the company of 'delicious bias'
He added that people 'had had enough after 16 months of impartiality' where the BBC 'can mark its own homework'.
He said, “We have had enough of the BBC that preached its truth.”
Protest -participant Cheryl Kaye, from North Londs, said that the director -general Tim Davie of the company should speech the crowd.
She said, “I was shocked that he did not give this community the courtesy of a conversation.”
Annie Keen from Shenley in Hertfordshire, said that the revelations about the documentary 'feeling sick' made her.
The 71-year-old said: 'I had to be here to explain the BBC peacefully that there are ways in which they can verify information that one of our members did. It literally took him minutes to google who he was. '
The decision to draw the program came after the Hamas connection was unveiled last Tuesday by an anti -Semitism researcher, David Collier.
Mrs. Keen added that anti -Semitism in society had become 'unfortunately endemic'.
While the BBC emphasized that the production company behind the show was independent, they accepted that 'the processes and implementation of this program did not come to our expectations'
She said: 'My daughter now lives in Israel. She moved in August to get away from anti -Semitism. She did not feel safe and lived in a largely Jewish area. '
Another participant said, “The BBC has lost the confidence of many Jewish people throughout the country.”
A demonstrator calls “Will this be on the news of 10 hours?” Was laughed of the crowd.
David Collier, the journalist who unveiled the Hamas connection with the documentary, said: “We want to know exactly what went wrong in BBC, how the documentary was produced, why it was even given on commission and who is responsible for the flagrant one-sided, anti-Israel-Junk Day.”
He added: 'This time we want full transparency and we want it public. Those in these offices, behind me, who have helped to spread the cancer of anti -Semitism, can no longer work there. We will accept nothing less. '
In the full statement, a BBC spokesperson said: 'BBC News carried out a first assessment about the' Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone 'program. Today the BBC sign about that work is updated. It has identified serious errors when making this program. Some of these are made by the production company, and some of the BBC; They are all unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility and the impact that they have had on the reputation of the company. Our apologies for this.
'Nothing is more important than the confidence that our audience has in our journalism. This incident has damaged that trust. Although the intention of the documentary was tailored to our goal – to tell the story of what is happening all over the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places – the processes and implementation of this program did not fall to our expectations. Although the program was made by an independent production company, which was instructed to deliver a fully conforming documentary, the BBC has the ultimate editorial responsibility for this program as a broadcast.
'One of the key questions is around the family ties of the young boy who is the narrator of the film. During the production process, the independent production company was asked by the BBC a number of times, about possible connections that he and his family with Hamas could have. Since the transfer they have recognized that they knew that the boy's father was a deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas government; They also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact. It was then the BBC's own failure that we did not discover that fact and the documentary was broadcast.
According to tonight's statement, Hoyo films, based in London, did not tell the BBC several times about potential connections that the narrator and his family can have with Hamas
'Hoyo films have told us that they have paid the boy's mother, through his sister's bank account, a limited sum of money for the story. Although Hoyo films have assured us that no payments have been made to members of Hamas or his affiliated companies, directly, in kind, or as a gift, the BBC is looking for extra certainty around the budget of the program and will perform a complete audit of expenditure. We ask for the relevant financial accounts of the production company to do that.
'Given the BBC's own shortcomings, the Director General has asked for complaints about this issue to be accelerated to the editorial complaints unit, which is independent of BBC News. In addition, a full actual assessment will be carried out; The Director General has asked Peter Johnston to lead this work.
'Peter Johnston, the director of editorial complaints and assessments, is independent of BBC News and reports directly to the Director General. He will consider all complaints and issues that have been discussed. He will determine whether editorial guidelines have been broken; Quickly tackle the complaints that have been submitted; and enable the BBC to determine whether any disciplinary measures are justified with regard to shortcomings in making this program. This includes issues related to the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been increased with the BBC.
“We have no plans to broadcast the program again in its current form or bring it back to IPLayer and will make a further assessment once the work of Peter Johnston is complete.”
Declaration of the BBC sign:
'The BBC board met today. The subject of the documentary was clearly a legitimate area to explore, but nothing is more important than trust and transparency in our journalism. Although the board appreciates that errors can be made, the mistakes here are considerable and harmful to the BBC.
“The board obliged the director to report as quickly as possible about the results of the work that the Director General has dedicated.”
