Palestine flags STILL up across Tower Hamlets despite council vow to remove symbols over residents’ 'distress'

Evening Standard reported that the UK Lawyers for Israel wrote to the council to say that many Jewish residents were distressed by the large number of Palestinian flags being flown in the streets.

Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman said: "Although these flags are an understandable expression of solidarity, I now feel they are being used to unfairly attack the people of the borough and further the Islamophobic narrative."

Speaking to GB News, Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam Paul Scully said: "I ran up from Westminster to the North Circular and back through Whitechapel. I saw all the Palestinian flags and you can imagine if you are a Jewish person how you might feel intimidated.

"If you are a gay person and walking through there hand in hand with your partner you may feel intimidated there.

"So the wider point is getting to know why people feel daunted by that and how you can tackle that.

"Getting rid of those flags is a good move because community cohesion is complex. You can't deal with it in a little soundbite on social media with the frenzy that follows."

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Speaking about the decision, Rahman said: "I understand that those who have erected these flags across the borough have done so in line with our strong tradition of solidarity and I reject that they are symbols of division.

"They are symbols of solidarity and sympathy for those enduring extreme suffering in Gaza.

"We must not forget that over 30,000 people have now been killed, 70 per cent of whom are women and children. The flags certainly had an impact and made residents’ views clear."

According to the 2021 census, Tower Hamlets has the largest Muslim population of any local authority area in the UK at 39.9 per cent.

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends to press ahead with an invasion of the city of Rafah on the southern border of the Gaza Strip, adding the army was preparing operational issues and the evacuation of the civilian population.

The announcement is in defiance of Western leaders and humanitarian groups, including President Joe Biden, who said an invasion into the southern city was a "red line" with Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying it would be "a humanitarian catastrophe."

PM Netanyahu claimed he had the tacit support of several Arab leaders for driving ahead with the onslaught against Hamas. He did not name them.

The Gaza health ministry said at least 31,490 Palestinians have been killed and 73,439 wounded since October 7 in Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip.