BBC Produces a Propaganda Film for Hamas

[Want even more content from FPM? Sign up for FPM+ to unlock exclusive series, virtual town-halls with our authors, and more—now for just $3.99/month. Click here to sign up.]

The documentary filmmaker Hoyo Films paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to a Hamas-linked family for a BBC documentary. It’s a major scandal, and more about it can be found here: “BBC Apologizes for ‘Unacceptable’ Mistakes With Gaza Documentary, Admits Palestinian Interviewees’ Ties to Hamas,” by Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner, February 28, 2025:

Deborah Turness, the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, sent an e-mail to staff on Thursday that included a statement about the documentary, remarks which were publicly shared on Friday by a BBC spokesperson.

In the statement, the BBC said it takes complete editorial responsibility for the film and admitted that the corporation and Hoyo Films, the production company behind the documentary, have made “unacceptable” flaws in the making of the documentary. “BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologize for this.”

The spokesperson added that the BBC was not informed in advance by Hoyo Films about Abdullah’s family connection to Hamas….

The BBC suspected something was wrong, something involving Hamas, which is why it repeatedly asked Hoyo Films about whether any of those involved in making the film were linked to Hamas. But when Hoyo Films refused to answer, the BBC ought at that point have pulled the film before it was shown. It did not, but instead heedlessly decided to show it. Only after the propaganda film was released, and the damage done to Israel, did Hoyo Films admit that it had known all along about the family connection to Hamas of the young narrator. Clearly, Hoyo Films wanted that film to be shown no matter what. In fact, it seems to have deliberately chosen Al-Yazouri to be the narrator, not despite, but because of, his link to Hamas. No doubt that Hamas connection made it easier to shoot the film, with Hamas eager to collaborate. Will the BBC now investigate those on its staff responsible for commissioning this “documentary” and why they let it be aired when they had reason to believe that the narrator was connected to Hamas? Will those investigators look into why such large sums were given by Hoyo Films to the Hamas-linked Al-Yazouri family?

Hoyo Films told the corporation that it paid Abdullah’s mother “a limited sum of money” for narrating the film by way of his sister’s bank account, according to the BBC. Hoyo Films “assured BBC” no payments were given to Hamas members or its affiliates “either directly, in kind, or as a gift,” and the corporation is “seeking additional assurance” about the film’s budget. The BBC said it will initiate a full audit of the film’s expenses and is asking Hoyo Films for financial accounts to help with the audit….

Hoyo Films describes the amount it paid to Abdullah’s mother as “a limited sum of money.” This is a lie; it paid her hundreds of thousands of pounds, an enormous amount, most of which ended up in the coffers of Hamas. Who at Hoyo Films decided to pay such large amounts, and who at the BBC may have known about them, and approved such a transfer of wealth from British license-payers to Hamas terrorists?

Much too late, the BBC realized that Hoyo Films’ “assurances” about no payments going to Hamas members or its affiliates “either directly, in kind, or as a gift” were lies. It may even find, after an audit, that such emoluments went not just to the Al-Yazouri family, but to others connected with Hamas who helped Hoyo Films with its “documentary,” as members of the camera crew. These are the people who selected, or staged, the most heartrending views of children searching through the rubble of their destroyed dwellings, or carrying off food and water from the aid trucks, or even shown as wounded victims of Israeli airstrikes, being rushed into hospitals in the arms of their parents.

The propagandistic value of this film to Hamas was enormous, and the production company’s refusal to warn the BBC about the Hamas link to the main narrator and two of its camera crew should make it ineligible to receive future commissions for other films from the BBC.

For years — decades — those who report on Israel and the Palestinians for the BBC have, without exception, been deeply biased against the Jewish state. They include John Simpson, Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet, Barbara Plett Usher (who wept for “the old man” when Arafat died), and Yolande Knell. But at least they were not paying off terrorist organizations to supply them with material that would make Israel look bad. In this case, however, the BBC had hired Hoyo Films to produce a documentary about children living in Gaza that turned out to be narrated by a Hamas-linked 13-year-old. The “documentary” itself was a vehicle for Hamas propagandists, with the tear-jerking sights of children poking in the rubble of Gaza, of wounded toddlers screaming as they were rushed into hospitals, or were shown being held by their desperate or grieving parents. Now the British government has committed itself to investigating the BBC for its failures, from showing the film even without receiving any assurances from Hoyo Films that no one connected to Hamas had any role in the making of the film, to not investigating the enormous sums paid by Hoyo Films to a Hamas- linked family, sums that were charged to the BBC and thus, ultimately, came from the license fees British taxpayers are required to pay the BBC. The BBC’s coverage of Israel and the Palestinians — and not just in this latest incident — will now face a day of reckoning.