The decision by council officials in Tower Hamlets to remove murals depicting Palestinian journalists has been criticised by the borough’s mayor.
A group called UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLI) wrote to a number of councils, including Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Worcester and Lambeth, arguing that pro-Palestine murals were divisive.
Officers from Tower Hamlets last week removed artwork depicting the journalists Hind Osama Al-Khoudary and Doaah Albaz. The former had already been defaced.
Caroline Turner, director of UK Lawyers for Israel, said she was pleased the council had ‘removed the divisive and illegal murals’.
‘Councils have powers to remove these murals and should do so as a priority where the murals promote one side of the current war, in view of their impact on community cohesion,’ she said.
However, Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman took to X to criticise the local authority’s decision.
‘Murals of Palestinian children, doctors & journalists murdered in Gaza should never be conflated with hate speech. I was not made aware of the removal of these murals & am urgently seeking clarification on how this happened.’
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: ‘We remove all graffiti from council owned buildings and property as quickly as possible. For private properties, it is the owner’s responsibility to keep their property clear of graffiti, but with their agreement we can help with removal.’
