UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has welcomed Camden Council’s decision to refuse retrospective planning permission for controversial illuminated signage displayed at Palestine House, 113 High Holborn, following a formal complaint submitted by UKLFI in June 2025.
On 27 June 2025, UKLFI wrote to Camden Council warning that a large illuminated digital sign above Palestine House, bearing the slogan “STOP THE GENOCIDE” alongside a Palestinian flag, together with other illuminated signage and pavement displays, was being displayed in breach of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. UKLFI argued that the signage was unlawful, inflammatory, and damaging to community cohesion, particularly at a time of record antisemitic incidents.
Camden has now formally refused advertisement consent for the signs, concluding that both the digital fascia sign and the illuminated projecting sign are unacceptable and unlawful. The Council found that the signs are visually harmful, inappropriate in a conservation area, and detrimental to the setting of a Grade II listed building in High Holborn.
Importantly, Camden has also confirmed that the continued display of the signs may constitute a criminal offence, and that enforcement action and possible prosecution will follow if they are not removed.
UKLFI Director Jonathan Turner said:
“We warned Camden that the ‘STOP THE GENOCIDE’ sign was not only misleading and inflammatory, but also unlawful under planning law. Camden’s decision confirms that our complaint was correct. These signs should never have been allowed to remain in place, particularly given the serious impact they were having on Jewish residents, businesses and visitors in the area.”
Although Camden has stated that it based its refusal on planning and amenity grounds rather than on the political content of the message, UKLFI notes that the sign was displayed on a digital screen capable of changing political messages, and therefore could not lawfully be treated as ordinary business signage.