'Heads will roll' BBC faces claims of Gaza bias from all sides

When the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, held a virtual town hall meeting with staff this month, most assumed it would be dominated by disputes over pay and redundancies.

- Michael Savage

When the questions came in, however, the top query to the boss was clear: why was the corporation refusing to show a documentary about medics in Gaza?

Staff wanted to know why Gaza: Doctors Under Attack had been shelved while an investigation took place into another documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from the iPlayer earlier this year after it emerged its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

"The lack of transparency over these decisions is hugely concerning," Davie was told.

Another staffer asked: "Are you aware this [delay] has negatively impacted the BBC's reputation and ability to tell Palestine stories?"

A third question went further.

"I'm often confronted about the BBC being a propaganda machine and biased about Gaza," it said.

"I love my job, but sometimes I can't tell anyone I work here for fear of arguments. What can be done about this?" It went on: "I know I am not alone in feeling this way and believe my question will resonate with colleagues across the corporation."

Davie fielded the questions, saying no one should be falling out with friends and family members in defence of the BBC's coverage of the conflict, and admitting editorial decisions involved in covering Gaza were "as tough as it gets".

Since that event, the BBC has completely axed the medics documentary, causing further anger. Channel 4 announced this weekend that it would air the documentary on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, BBC executives are braced for the findings of its internal inquiry into the making of Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.