Empire Magazine‘s Amon Warmann has spoken out over the scandal of the BBC’s censorship of filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr’s expressions of solidarity with Palestinian people during the recent BAFTAs ceremony – and ITV’s censorship of Warmann’s own support for Palestine.

The BBC cut out Davies Jr’s “Free Palestine” from his acceptance speech for a BAFTA awarded for his film My Father’s Shadow. The censorship is yet another example of state and media censorship of support for Palestine and opposition to Israel’s Gaza genocide and occupation.

Warmann was briefly invited onto ITV to discuss the incident – but was himself then censored by that same broadcaster. He said afterwards:

Some important context about my brief [ITV] appearance tonight… ITV asked me to come to their offices to talk about the BAFTAs moment. Arrived and got ready to film.

They spotted my ‘Free Palestine’ badge and asked me to take it off. ​ I refused. They said “they have to remain impartial.” ​ I told them that I didn’t. The cameraman and interviewer conferred with each other and the pre-recorded interview ultimately went ahead.

When it aired, they made sure to zoom in on me to such a degree that my ‘Free Palestine’ badge was not showing. This was done without my knowledge. The segment itself details how the BBC omitted “Free Palestine” from Akinola Davies Jr.’s speech, even though ITV were essentially doing the exact same thing to me.

So it’s not just the BBC that have utterly failed to meet this moment. It’s ITV too. Disappointing.

AMON WARMANN Film critic.

Meanwhile, the BBC left an ‘n-word’ expletive shouted out by a Tourette’s campaigner, claiming later that this was an error. That didn’t convince Your Party MP Zarah Sultana, who said later:

With a two-hour delay, the BBC could’ve removed the N-word slur from its BAFTA coverage, and chose not to.
Meanwhile, it cut Akinola Davies Jr saying “Free Palestine”. A clear editorial decision driven by fear of pro-Israel lobby groups. Shame on them.

The BBC cut the whole ending of Davies’s speech, preventing viewers hearing his solidarity with refugees as well as with Palestinians:

To the economic migrant, the conflict migrant, those under occupation, dictatorship, persecution and those experiencing genocide, you matter and your stories matter more than ever. Your dreams are an act of resistance.

To those watching at home, archive your loved ones, archive your stories yesterday, today and forever.

For Nigeria, for London, Congo, Sudan, free Palestine. Thank you.

Shame on the BBC indeed.

Featured image via the Canary

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