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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
John Dunne

Pro-Israel lawyers demand Met investigate 'intimidating' Palestine flags in Tower Hamlets

Pro-Israel legal campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has called for the Metropolitan Police to investigate the "proliferation" of Palestine flags in an east London borough.

The group claims flags, along with pro-Gazan posters and stickers, in Tower Hamlets will "intimidate Jewish people and may encourage violence against them".

It has called on the borough to remove the displays of Palestinian support in case their "inflammatory content" constitutes a criminal offence.

Tower Hamlets, which has the largest Muslim population of any local authority area in the UK at 39.9 per cent according to the 2021 census, said it is not aware of any criminal offences being committed through the displaying of Palestinian flags.

But UKLFI said it has reported the council to the Metropolitan Police over its failure to act on what it claimed were materials likely to spark intimidation of the Jewish community in the borough.

Some of the signs included accusations that Israel was committing "genocide" in Gaza and calls for "victory to the intifada", the Arabic word for an uprising. 

Caroline Turner, director of the UKLFI, said in her letter to the police: "In my view all these slogans are likely to stir up racial hatred of Israelis and Jews, and to encourage violence against Israelis and Jews contrary to the Public Order Act 1986."

The Metropolitan Police has made arrests during pro-Palestine protests in central London over a number of alleged declarations of support for Hamas, which is a proscribed terror group and therefore illegal to support.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of the UKLFI, said in a letter to Tower Hamlets Council that under the Town and Country Planning Act, it would be held liable for any criminal offences committed through the displaying of the materials.

He did not state which offences, if any, were being committed through the displaying of the signs and flags.

Mr Turner added: "Our attention has been drawn to serious concerns on the part of Jewish residents of Tower Hamlets regarding the proliferation of large Palestine flags on lamp-posts in public streets as well as posters and stickers with inflammatory content.

"These displays intimidate Jewish people and may encourage violence against them. We believe that many of the flags, posters and stickers are displayed on land owned or occupied by Tower Hamlets Council.

"The Council has not taken all reasonable steps to secure the removal of flags, posters and stickers on its land and therefore has committed and is committing criminal offences."

A spokesman for Tower Hamlets Council said: "As one of the most diverse areas in the country, we are monitoring any community tensions closely with our Tension Monitoring Group, which includes the police and representatives from a broad range of community organisations.

"A number of Palestinian flags have been put up by the public in recent months. While we appreciate people want to express their support for Palestine, we have a routine responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure. The situation is under regular review.

"Separately to Palestinian flags, the council will remove at the earliest opportunity any graffiti, posters or flags which are racist or generally offensive.

"We are not aware of any criminal offences related to Palestinian flags not being removed, and we will continue to work closely with police partners to manage the situation."

Police made a number of arrests on Saturday after hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters rallied in central London and marched from St James's Park to Westminster Bridge, where they staged a sit-in.

More than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in the three months since Israel began its counter-offensive in Gaza, following the October 7 attacks that saw Hamas terrorists kill an estimated 1,200 Israelis.

Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.

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