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The arrest on terrorism charges of a 67-year-old man for holding up the front cover of Private Eye at a pro-Palestine protest is “mind-boggling”, Ian Hislop, the magazine’s editor, has said.
Pensioner Jon Farley, a former head teacher at a primary school, was arrested at a silent protest in Leeds on Saturday after police accused him of supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation.
The government voted earlier this month to designate the protest outfit a terrorist organisation after some of its members allegedly sprayed red paint at British fighter jets at RAF Brize Norton. The proscription afforded Palestine Action the same legal status as Isis, Al-Qaeda and far-right outfit National Action.
The Private Eye cover held up by Mr Farley at the protest contained the words: “Palestine Action Explained. Unacceptable Palestine Action: Spraying military planes with paint. Acceptable Palestine Action: Shooting Palestinians queueing for food.”
At the bottom of Mr Farley’s poster, the words “Private Eye, no 1653” were written.
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West Yorkshire police arrested the pensioner under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He had never been detained before.
“[Police officers] picked me up, grabbed me, and took me to the side, and I ended up sitting on the pavement,” the 67-year-old told The Guardian.
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“I think that’s when they said something about the placard. And 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.”
A fellow protester later pointed out to the police that the latest edition of Private Eye was on sale at a nearby newsagents.
Mr Farley spent six hours in detention being questioned by counter-terror police. He was allowed to leave under bail conditions that he refrain from attending “Palestine Action” rallies. Mr Farley says he has never attended a Palestine Action rally, and it would be illegal to hold such a meeting.
He pointed out that 32 Palestinians were shot while queueing for aid on the day he was arrested.
He described the incident as evidence of a “whole atmosphere of intimidation”, adding that he believed the police were “making up the law”.
Mr Hislop, defending the front cover, said it was “quite blatantly an example of freedom of speech”.
Asked about the arrest of Mr Farley, he said: “I did think it was mind-boggling. I mean, ludicrous. He obviously couldn’t believe it and the immediate response in the office was that someone said: ‘Well, the jokes have been criminal for ages.’”
Mr Hislop described the cover as “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.
“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.”