Palestine Action protest, 6 September – commons image
By Ruth Aylett
In tribute to Jon Farley: arrested at a silent Palestine protest in Leeds in July 2025 for holding up a placard version of a joke from the latest edition of Private Eye.
He’s thinking about the children
over all his teaching years;
pudgy hands finger painting,
small arms learning to share,
the free chaos of playtimes.
He’s thinking about the children
who will never now grow up,
burned in tents by drones,
dying in their parents’ arms
sniped through the head.
He’s thinking about the children
and what one small voice can do,
facing his placard to the world,
trudging Kirkgate in a slow crowd,
carrying a joke that’s no joke.
He’s thinking about the children
as the cops take either arm
and bang him up for six hours,
how he’s labelled ‘terrorist’
for thinking about the children.
