Journalist Ramita Navai accepted the award in the current affairs category and criticized the BBC, which funded the film yet declined to air it, saying, ‘We refuse to be silenced’
By Nirit Anderman, reposted from Haaretz, May 11, 2026
The British documentary “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” which investigates Israeli military attacks on hospitals in Gaza, won the prize for Best Current Affairs at the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs) on Sunday.
Journalist and presenter Ramita Navai attacked the BBC in her acceptance speech for refusing to broadcast the film, while executive producer Ben de Pear urged the public broadcaster not to censor his speech, daring them to air the film. “Just a question to the BBC,” he asked. “Given that you dropped our film, will you drop us from the BAFTA screening later tonight?”
The BBC aired the ceremony, considered equivalent to the U.S. Emmy Awards, with a two-hour delay, ultimately including the speech in the broadcast.
Last June, the BBC decided not to broadcast the film after concluding “that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC.” According to the statement, the corporation was “determined to report all aspects of the conflict in the Middle East impartially and fairly.”
The BBC transferred ownership of the film to de Pear’s production company, Basement Films. The film was later broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4, which is publicly owned but advertiser-funded. De Pear served as editor of Channel 4 News for 10 years, ending in 2022.
In her speech, Navai referred to the number of fatalities in Gaza as a result of IDF attacks in the Strip, clarifying these were findings from the film that the BBC funded but refused to broadcast. “We refuse to be silenced and censored,” she said in her speech. “We thank Channel 4 for showing this film.”
When a fake Gaza documentary is too biased to air on BBC but wins a BAFTA pic.twitter.com/ueQsgNENzo
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) May 11, 2026
Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded in a post on Israel’s official X account. Captioned “When a fake Gaza documentary is too biased to air on BBC but wins a BAFTA,” the ministry uploaded an AI-generated image depicting a fast food worker asking, “Would you like some award-winning lies with that?”
In an interview with Haaretz last December, Navai clarified that the shelving of the film indicated cowardice and claimed that the behind-the-scenes conduct was scandalous: “They were influenced by pressure from pro-Israel lobby groups, which were explicitly mentioned in editorial meetings I attended,” she recounted.
“I have never encountered anything like this,” Navai added, “I never heard a Muslim, Afghan, Iranian, or Syrian lobby mentioned. It’s absurd and incomprehensible,” she said.
“A huge team verified and cross-checked every possible piece of information in the film twice and three times. I don’t think a documentary has ever undergone this many factual and legal checks by so many lawyers as our film,” Navai told Haaretz.
“In fact, even the BBC’s lawyers and editorial team had no complaints against us; on the contrary. They sent us emails saying it was powerful, important, and aligned with the public interest,” she concluded.
Nirit Anderman is Haaretz’s film and television reporter.
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