Well, it’s quite the coup for Private Eye, isn’t it? If you’re a satirical magazine, there are two ways of showing that you’re having an impact. One is to provoke Islamists to the point where they murder your staff, as in the case of the Charli Hebdo murders in Paris ten years ago, or the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, twenty years ago. The other is when police arrest individuals simply for holding up your front cover. And this is the startling situation faced by Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye.
His cover, mocking the Government’s proscription of the group Palestine Action, was held up as a placard by Jon Farley, a Palestinian Solidarity campaigner, at a silent march in Leeds last weekend.
It was, granted, a hard-hitting image. “Palestine Action explained” it began. “Unacceptable Palestine Action: spraying military planes with paint. Acceptable Palestine Action: Shooting Palestinians queuing for food.” Private Eye didn’t pull its punches, but it was pretty well accurate as a depiction of the current state of affairs, here and in Gaza.
But it turns out the Yorkshire police’s sense of humour is no laughing matter, as they used to say about the Germans. Mr Farley was arrested, bundled into a police van, taken to the cells and released after six hours.
He recalled that the police “picked me up, grabbed me and took me to the side, and I ended up sitting on the pavement. 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.”
To add to the piquancy of the situation, they confirmed his identity from his senior bus pass – he’s 67. He was arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which prohibits support for a proscribed organisation. And since 5 July, when Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, banned the group, that’s what Palestine Action is.
At the time I observed that the police would be kept busy since proscription meant that anyone carrying an I Heart Palestine Action badge could be arrested; I never thought that by extension, you could be arrested for carrying a copy of Private Eye.
As the magazine observes, even though the police won’t be taking any further action, being arrested under the Terrorism Act leaves a record that potentially affects future travel and employment.
It has, therefore, a chilling effect on free speech, including satirical free speech. And it’s not, I find, the first time this has been a problem.
I’ve heard of one individual whose copy of the same issue was confiscated when he was entering the Palace of Westminster recently, although I should be surprised if the Commons library doesn’t itself possess it.
The good news for Private Eye is not just that it’s billed as subversive material – always good if you’re in the business of satire – but it may well get more front covers out of the situation.
There was an earlier one that read: “Warning: This magazine may contain some criticism of the Israeli government and may suggest that killing everyone in Gaza in revenge for the Hamas atrocities may not be a good long-term solution to the problems of the region.” Dangerous stuff, huh?
The truth is that proscribing Palestinian Action terrorists was a dud approach to the problem posed by the antics of a few of its supporters, such as that very tiresome woman vicar, 83, who was arrested outside Westminster – or indeed the people who spray painted military planes, causing £7 million worth of damage.
But the answer to people causing criminal damage should have been to use the existing criminal law against them, and for the judge in the case to throw the book at them when it comes to sentencing.
That wasn’t enough though for that busy bee, Yvette Cooper, who is an unfortunate combination for a Home Secretary of being both authoritarian (proscribing organisations) and ineffective (stopping small boat crossings). It was an insane decision in the first place, and Jon Farley’s arrest just goes to show where stupid proscriptions get you. Especially when such action is implemented by even stupider police.
The problem is that there really is a crisis in Gaza and the Private Eye cartoon got right to the heart of it. The Israeli Defence Force is blocking the delivery of basic food supplies to Gaza, with the result that hundreds of thousands of people are not just facing starvation but are starving. And those forces have been firing on Palestinians who are queuing for food at the IDF-approved checkpoints.
That is, quite simply, the fact of the matter, and it’s beyond dreadful. The UK government is protesting about these actions (meekly) but it isn’t doing justice to the appalled indignation of the public – including those of us who are very far from being Hamas supporters – at the mass punishment of an entire population. In the circumstances, a silent protest with individuals carrying copies of Private Eye is an entirely tame response.
Meanwhile, the Government is proposing to introduce a law proscribing Islamophobia which threatens to chill any discussion of mass immigration and the cultural and religious aspects of the mass rape scandals. Is there anything it can get right? When it comes to free speech, it doesn’t look like it.
Melanie McDonagh is a columnist at The London Standard
