Gary Lineker: BBC Should “Hold Its Head in Shame” for Dropping Gaza Film

London (Quds News Network)- Veteran BBC presenter Gary Lineker has said the broadcaster should “hold its head in shame” over its failure to show a documentary about the plight of medics in Gaza amid the ongoing Israeli genocide.

The former Match of the Day presenter said people at “the very top of the BBC” had been failing over the Israeli assault, after the corporation’s controversial decision to drop Gaza: Doctors Under Attack.

Lineker, who presented its flagship football programme for 25 years, left the broadcaster early after reposting a piece of content about Zionism that contained a rat emoji, historically used in antisemitic propaganda, prompting discussions with BBC leadership that led to his early exit.

Lineker apologised. In an interview with fellow BBC presenter Amol Rajan, which was conducted and broadcast prior to the episode that prompted his departure, the former footballer said that Israel’s war on Gaza and the “mass murder of thousands of children” was more important than what was happening internally at the broadcaster and was “probably something we should have a little opinion on”.

Speaking after a screening of the film in London on Thursday, “It needed to be seen, it really did need to be seen – I think everyone would agree with tha.”

“I think the BBC should hold its head in shame.”

“As someone who’s worked for the corporation for 30 years, to see the way it’s declined in the last year or two has been devastating, really, because I’ve defended it and defended it against claims that it’s partial. It talks about impartiality all the time.”

“The truth is at the moment, [there is a problem] at the very top of the BBC. Not [all] the BBC, because there are thousands and thousands of people that work at the BBC, that are good people, that understand what is going on here and can see it. We see it on our phones every day. The problem is they’re bowing to the pressure from the top. This is a worry and I think time’s coming where a lot of people are going to be answerable to this, and complicity is something that will come to many.”

The BBC announced that it had dropped the film in June after a months-long delay due to impartiality concerns.

Gaza: Doctors under Attack recounts how hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been overwhelmed, bombed and raided by Israeli forces during the genocide. Medics recount being detained and tortured.

The corporation came in for renewed criticism this weekend for cutting live coverage of Irish rap trio Kneecap during their Glastonbury performance after the group shouted “F* Keir Starmer,”** referring to the UK Prime Minister. But the broadcaster could not censor British punk duo Bob Vylan, who chanted “Death to the IDF” and “Free Palestine” during their own set. A BBC spokesperson called Bob Vylan’s chants “deeply offensive” and confirmed that the performance will not be re-broadcast or archived.

The BBC also came under fire recently for withdrawing a documentary about children in Gaza entitled, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.

A new analysis by the UK’s public broadcaster revealed that the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza is “systematically biased against Palestinians.” The study of over 35,000 pieces of content conducted by the Muslim Council of Britain’s Centre for Media Monitoring (CFMM) found that the BBC gives Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage than Palestinian ones.

More than 100 employees, along with 300 media industry figures, wrote to BBC leadership, accusing the broadcaster of “censorship” and “anti-Palestinian racism” in covering Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

In the letter, the BBC employees wrote to director general Tim Davie to complain about the corporation becoming a mouthpiece for Israel.

“All too often it has felt that the BBC has been performing PR for the Israeli government and military. This should be a cause of great shame and concern for everyone at the BBC,” the letter said.

The letter said content creators at the corporation have “experienced censorship in the name of impartiality.” It added some insiders had been “accused of having an agenda because they have posted news articles critical of the Israeli government on their social media.”

They cited in particular the BBC’s decision not to air the Gaza medics film, saying the move was “just one in a long line of agenda driven decisions”.

“This appears to be a political decision and is not reflective of the journalism in the film,” the letter continued. “This illustrates precisely what many of us have experienced first hand: an organisation that is crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government.”