What happened to the right to fly Palestine flags in east London?

Amid leaden March skies  in the UK, bus passenger Faisal Alam looks up at a Palestinian flag flying at the 309 stop in Langdon Park, east London. Wearing a cream thobe and brown skullcap, Alam says the flag symbolises many things, most notably, solidarity with the Palestinian people.

"They are suffering a genocide, and no one is doing anything to protect them in Gaza," he said. "It's a small gesture, but one that I hope shows the Palestinian people that we have not forgotten them."

For the past six months, since Israel began its current bombardment of the Gaza Strip after the Hamas attack of 7 October, thousands of people have taken to the streets of London to demand a ceasefire.

Across the UK, communities have shown their backing for Palestine, from producing murals to protesting outside companies that profit from Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

In the borough of Tower Hamlets and other neighbourhoods of east London, residents and activists from the newly formed Palestine Solidarity Network have raised Palestinian flags on lampposts and other street installations, outside shop fronts and in their front windows.

Read more: What happened to the right to fly Palestine flags in east London?