Thank you to everyone who has signed my petition so far. Over 25,000 of you have now said no to censoring children’s voices.

Today I wrote to Tim Davie, Director-General of the BBC, to let him know just how many of us want the documentary to be reinstated, and why the reasons put forward to justify its removal simply do not add up. I told him, “Anyone who is offended by a child sharing their lived experiences of survival can choose not to watch it. But do not deny innocent children – who have experienced unimaginable grief and loss – the right to tell their stories.”

You can read my full letter to him below.

Please keep signing and sharing my petition. Now more than ever, we need to stand up for Palestinian children.

In solidarity,

Sylvia

Dear Mr Davie

I am writing to draw your attention to the huge number of people (25,000+) who have signed my petition calling on you to reinstate the excellent documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

The film provided a rare window into the lives of children in Gaza, devastated by months of conflict. As international journalists are banned from Gaza, there are far too few opportunities to witness these children’s stories. This film gave us a small insight and humanised Palestinian children.

The objections that led to its removal do not add up.

The main objection relates to the 13-year-old narrator’s father – who is the deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza’s Hamas-run government. As many have pointed out, his role is concerned with agriculture, not politics or military. And since Hamas runs the government in Gaza, anyone working in an official capacity must also work with Hamas.

In the interests of transparency, a line at the beginning of the film explaining the boy’s father’s role (as was done originally) was all that was required. Removing the film entirely because of one child’s family connections feels very much like censorship. And as Artists for Palestine UK stated, “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.”

Other objections include the risk of payments ‘funding Hamas’, but as Hoyo Films and now the boy himself have confirmed, Abdullah the narrator was paid a very small sum which was used to cover basic living expenses. And the complaints around the use of potentially antisemitic language have been rebuffed by many – including Jewish Voice for Labour. The word ‘“Yehudi” is simply Arabic for “Israeli,” and is used by Jewish Israeli journalist Yuval Abrahamto to describe himself in the beginning of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land.

Crucially, no-one has pointed to any errors or inaccuracies in the editorial content of the film. 

Why is an innocent child, the victim of unimaginable suffering, put under such intense scrutiny as to whether or not they should be allowed to tell their story? Regardless of his family connections, Abdullah and all the children featured are individuals in their own right, whose lived experiences and testimonies are valid. And as a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a duty to represent all people – especially marginalised groups and children who have so few opportunities to speak their truth.

I am not the only person who feels this way. Over 25,000 people have now signed my petition calling on the documentary to be reinstated (and please read some of the many, many comments from the public supporting this petition). They join over 1,000 industry professionals – including BBC staff and journalists – and more than 600 British Jews who have written to ask you to reconsider your decision.

You already admitted that the number of people who wrote to the BBC asking for the documentary to be reinstated far outnumber those who called for its removal. The individuals who succeeded in silencing children’s voices may be loud and powerful, but I am certain that they are in the vast minority.

Please let us all see this excellent film for ourselves. Anyone who is offended by a child sharing their lived experiences of survival can choose not to watch it. But do not deny innocent children – who have experienced unimaginable grief and loss – the right to tell their stories.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

Sylvia Monkhouse