Ian Hislop slams terror arrest of man holding Private Eye cartoon
The cartoon read: "Unacceptable Palestine Action: Spraying military planes with paint.
"Acceptable Palestine Action: Shooting Palestinians queuing for food."
(Image: @MadocCairns, via Twitter/X) He was arrested by West Yorkshire police under the Terrorism Act, and was released six hours later after being questioned by counter-terrorism police.
On Monday, police confirmed no further action would be taken against him and all bail conditions have been lifted.
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Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, said the cartoon was "quite blatantly an example of freedom of speech on the subject of a government policy".
Ian Hislop (Image: PA) He told the Guardian: '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.''
Are Private Eye jokes now... criminal?
PALESTINE Solidarity campaigner Jon Farley was arrested, bundled into a van and taken to the cells during a silent march in Leeds last weekend. What egregious act had prompted the police to act? He was, er, carrying a Private Eye joke piece… pic.twitter.com/GojyQdXF7M — Private Eye Magazine (@PrivateEyeNews) July 23, 2025
He 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," Hislop added.
A spokesperson for 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.'
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