August 18, 2025, 3:58pm
Sally Rooney, the bestselling Irish novelist, has vowed to support Palestine Action despite the group being proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK.
In a piece published by the Irish Times on Saturday, Rooney (who has been one of the literary world’s most vocal pro-Palestinian voices) reiterated her support and admiration for the direct action movement and condemned the August 9th arrest of more than 500 peaceful protesters on suspicion of terror offenses:
These protesters were not engaged in any violent acts, nor were they promoting any violence against any living creatures at all. And yet they may now face life-altering terror charges, some of which could result in up to 14 years in prison. Why? Because, with a full understanding of the consequences, these brave individuals chose to express support for the protest group Palestine Action.
Since its foundation in 2020, Palestine Action has primarily organised direct-action protests against weapons manufacturers: defacing buildings, breaking windows and occupying factories. This summer, as the UK continued to offer material and diplomatic support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza, activists broke into an RAF airbase and used spray-paint to vandalise two aircraft. The Government responded by proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, placing the group on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The group’s cofounder, Huda Ammori, is now rightly fighting this designation in the courts, but in the meantime, any expression of support for Palestine Action, even a simple placard or T-shirt, constitutes a serious terror offence under UK law.
The decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, followed by the mass arrest of anyone who holds up a sign or wears a t-shirt supporting the group, has been met with widespread condemnation and ridicule in the UK. Half of those arrested (under section 13 of the Terrorism Act) at the August 9th mass sit-down demonstration in London were retirement-age peace activists. One of Britain’s most acclaimed poets, former Oxford Chair of Poetry Alice Oswald, was arrested for holding up a small handmade sign, and a Brighton engineer was taken into custody for wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Plasticine Action: We Oppose AI Generated Animation.’
Over the past 22 months, many authors have put their careers on the line to speak out against the Gaza genocide, but Rooney has decided to go a step further. Like Oswald, she is now risking her freedom by openly pledging her support for Palestine Action (support for a proscribed organization is illegal in the UK and can carry a potential penalty of up to 14 years in prison). In a move that has prompted a warning from the Prime Minister’s office, the Normal People author declared that she will use the proceeds from her novels, as well as the residuals from their television adaptations, to fund Palestine Action and other direct action groups:
In this context I feel obliged to state once more that—like the hundreds of protesters arrested last weekend—I too support Palestine Action. If this makes me a “supporter of terror” under UK law, so be it. My books, at least for now, are still published in Britain, and are widely available in bookshops and even supermarkets. In recent years the UK’s state broadcaster has also televised two fine adaptations of my novels, and therefore regularly pays me residual fees. I want to be clear that I intend to use these proceeds of my work, as well as my public platform generally, to go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide in whatever way I can. If the British state considers this “terrorism”, then perhaps it should investigate the shady organizations that continue to promote my work and fund my activities, such as WH Smith and the BBC.
As reported by the Guardian earlier today, a legal expert has warned that Rooney could now face arrest and prosecution:
Lawyer and writer Sadakat Kadri said: “Receiving money with the intention of using it to support terrorism is an offence under section 15 of the 2000 act. That means Rooney could be arrested without a warrant as a ‘terrorist.’”
He added that “the absurdities don’t end there,” and said the decision of the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, to bracket Palestine Action with groups such as Islamic State meant the BBC would also be criminally liable if it continued to pay royalties to Rooney in view of her stated intentions.
“Authoritarian governments routinely threaten writers and intimidate broadcasters, but I find it quite extraordinary that Labour under Keir Starmer has now chosen to go down the same path.”
Asked whether Rooney could face legal repercussions if she, for example, spoke at a book festival in the UK, Kadri said that “there’s certainly a risk she’d fall foul” of the law. If Rooney expressed “her views in terms of condemning the war crimes being committed in Gaza, an arguable case for prosecution could be made out.”
“Saying that isn’t for one moment an attempt to justify the statute,” said Kadri, which he described as “a shameful attack” on free speech. “It’s just a particularly stark illustration of the measure’s gross disproportionality.”