UK borough led by controversial mayor accused of 'criminal offences' over Palestinian flags

The borough, which has one of largest proportions of Muslims of any local authority in the UK, has seen a swell of support for Palestine amid the conflict in Gaza with Israel.

Now, a group of lawyers supportive of Israel has written to Scotland Yard asking the force to intervene, accusing the council of being in breach of planning laws by allowing the flags to remain in place.

In the letter, they said they believe the council should be doing more to remove potentially incendiary stickers saying "Victory to the Intifada."

Chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) Jonathan Turner wrote: "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."

According to Turner, under section 224(4)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act, the owner or occupier of the land on which the flags, posters and stickers are displayed is liable for the criminal offences once it knows of their display, unless it takes all reasonable steps to secure their removal.

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Turner added: "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."

The borough’s mayor Lutfur Rahman had previously been barred from public office for five years for corruption.

However, having served his ban, he was voted back into the post in elections in May 2022.

Rahman has huge support among the local Muslim community, which saw him set up a new party that defeated the Labour incumbent.

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.”