Ian Hislop criticises arrest of man holding up Private Eye cartoon at Gaza protest
The arrest of a British man over the weekend for holding up a cartoon from Private Eye addressing the proscription of Palestine Action has been criticised by the satirical magazine’s editor.
Jon Farley was arrested by UK police on Saturday at a silent protest in Leeds after holding up the cartoon which joked that “Spraying military planes with paint” was “Unacceptable Palestine Action” while “Shooting Palestinians queuing for food” was “Acceptable Palestine Action”.
He was arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, which prohibits support for a proscribed organisation.
Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, told the Guardian that the arrest of Farley was “mind-boggling”.
Hislop said the cartoon was “actually a very neat and funny little encapsulation about what is and isn’t acceptable, and it’s a joke about - I mean, it’s quite a black joke - but about the hypocrisies of government approach to any sort of action in Gaza.
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“So it’s not difficult to understand. It’s critical, but it is quite clearly a joke. Seems to me absolutely extraordinary that someone could be arrested for holding it up.”
The UK government proscribed Palestine Action under anti-terror laws on 4 July, following an incident in which members broke into RAF Brize Norton earlier this month and spray-painted two planes they said were “used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East".
Farley told the Guardian that police officers grabbed him and took him to the side, before asking him about the sign he was holding.
“I said: ‘Well it’s a cartoon from Private Eye. I can show you. I’ve got the magazine in my bag,’ by which time, they were putting me in handcuffs,” he said.
'It's critical, but it is quite clearly a joke. Seems to me absolutely extraordinary that someone could be arrested for holding it up'
- Ian Hislop, Private Eye editor
He said he was taken to a police station and questioned by counter-terrorism police, before being released six hours later under bail conditions that he attended no Palestine Action rallies.
Farley said he had never attended such rallies, and that any such demonstration would be illegal under terrorism laws anyway.
The new legislation has made membership of and support for Palestine Action a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison - the first time a direct action group has been proscribed in the UK as a terrorist group.
UN experts, human rights groups, and leading figures have condemned the ban as draconian, warning that it will have adverse consequences for the freedom of expression and implications for the rule of law.
Farley said he had received no apology or explanation since his arrest, and was left with minor bruises and cuts to his arm following the incident.
West Yorkshire police said: “We are sorry that the man involved is unhappy with the circumstances of this arrest. As this is a new proscribed organisation, West Yorkshire police is considering any individual or organisational learning from this incident.”
'High price for society to pay'
Private Eye is one of the highest circulating magazines in the UK, selling over 200,000 copies per fortnightly issue.
Its latest issue reported on Farley’s arrest, criticising the police’s actions.
It said: “As the Eye wrote in issue 1652: ‘Some will argue that proscribing Palestine Action and extending the definition of terrorism to direct action groups that destroy property but don’t aim attacks at the public - rather than using the current criminal law - is a high price for society to pay.’
“This was before the police decided to extend the definition of terrorism to include people cutting jokes out of satirical magazines that attempt to criticise the hypocrisies of government policy.”
On Saturday, at least 55 people were arrested in London at a rally against the proscription of Palestine Action outside the UK parliament.
They held up placards reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action" before police began bundling attendees into vans.
Similar protests took place in Edinburgh, Cornwall and other parts of the country, also leading to arrests.
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