Larisha Paul
Contact Larisha Paul on X View all posts by Larisha Paul October 21, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
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Sally Rooney's books are seen in a bookstore as sales of her books will be halted in United Kingdom over her support for Palestine Action in London on October 16 Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images Authors, actors, and musicians are standing with Sally Rooney after it was determined the author’s books could not be sold in the UK due to her support of Palestine Action, a direct action group. An open letter published in the New Statesman bearing signatures from Paul Mescal, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Kneecap, and more argues: “Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public.”
Palestine Action is committed to “ending global complicity with Israel’s genocidal apartheid regime,” according to their website. (Humanitarian groups and a United Nations commission have said Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide. Israel and its allies, including the United States, have denied this.)
In 2025, UK officials designated the group as a terrorist organization. The ban was upheld despite an extensive legal battle, making public membership, support, or financial aid raised for the group a punishable crime with prison time up to 14 years. Under these conditions, Rooney cannot publish or sell her books in the UK, she said earlier this month.
The letter addressed to the UK government describes the removal of Rooney’s books from shelves as an “affront to basic principles of free speech and expression so long taken for granted in this country,” saying the move was made “on the basis of ill-conceived and draconian anti-terror legislation.”
Last year, Rooney published an op-ed in the Irish Times stating she would continue to donate proceeds from her books to Palestine Action. The author argued that designating the group as a terrorist organization put vandalism, public demonstrations, and base disruptions on the same level as al-Qaeda war crimes. She called it an attempt by the UK government to police political speech.
