Burak Bir
09 May 2025•Update: 09 May 2025
LONDON
Activists protested Thursday outside the BBC’s London offices, accusing the broadcaster of "hiding genocide" in Gaza through its coverage.
Gathering outside the BBC’s headquarters in Portland Place as part of an "emergency demonstration," the crowd criticized its coverage on Gaza, where more than 52,000 people have been killed in Israel attacks since Oct. 7, 2023.
The carried Palestinian flags and held signs with various slogans, including "Stop arming Israel," "Jews against genocide” and "Bloody BBC."
The group also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while decrying Israel’s ongoing attacks in the Gaza Strip.
"BBC, shame on you" and "BBC you can't hide, you are supporting genocide," they shouted.
The rally came after the BBC pulled a documentary about Gaza in February, a move which has sparked a backlash.
Titled “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone,” it was co-directed by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Jamie Roberts and gives a glimpse into life in Gaza.
Speaking at the rally, Faris Amer from the Palestinian Forum in Britain organization, criticized the broadcaster's move to remove the documentary, saying these documentaries do not even tell the full story but only aspects.
For Amer, by doing this, the BBC says their aim "is not to inform."
"So we need to move away from mainstream media outlets. We need to look to other sources of information, to independent media. And we must let our voices be heard," he added.
Saying they will not be silenced, Amer vowed to continue protesting in solidarity with Palestinians.
Ahead of the protest, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), a co-organizer of the rally, said the BBC is "shielding Israel from accountability by continuing to suppress the realities of its genocidal violence against Palestinians."
On X, the group called on activists to join them to demand that "this complicity ends now."
Nearly 2.4 million people in Gaza live completely dependent on humanitarian aid, according to World Bank data.
Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza’s crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid, deepening an already humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
More than 52,600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
