Sally Rooney books off U.K. shelves over Palestine Action support

London — World-renowned Irish author Sally Rooney's books will no longer be supplied to booksellers in the U.K. due to her public support for Palestine Action, a group banned as a terrorist organization in Britain.

Rooney, the bestselling novelist behind "Normal People" and "Conversations with Friends," both of which have been adapted into television shows, and her publisher Faber have agreed to halt the supply of her books to British retailers, according to a statement from Faber.

"Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work. To sell a writer's work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher," Faber said. 

Rooney previously said she intended to use proceeds from her work to financially support Palestine Action, potentially exposing her and her publisher to prosecution under British anti-terrorism laws.

In an article published in The Irish Times in August 2025, Rooney wrote: "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."

What is Palestine Action?

Founded in 2020, Palestine Action is a British direct-action group that has targeted arms manufacturers and other companies it accuses of supplying weapons to Israel with protests and sabotage.

The group describes itself as a "movement committed to ending global complicity with Israel's genocidal apartheid regime."

The British government designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in July 2025, citing the group's history of criminal damage and escalating attacks on defense infrastructure, including a factory belonging to U.S. defense company Teledyne Technologies in 2022.

The 2025 decision came after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into a major air base, RAF Brize Norton, northwest of London, and damaging aircraft. The AP and other outlets cited British police as putting the cost of the damage at around $9.4 million, though authorities have not publicly confirmed that figure.

Under U.K. law it is a crime to be a member of a designated terrorist group, or to publicly support one.

The ban on Palestine Action has prompted widespread protests and thousands of arrests across the U.K. According to the latest figures from Britain's Home Office, which oversees all domestic law enforcement, the average age of those arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action is 59, compared to 28 for other terrorism-related arrests. 

The legality of the ban remains the subject of a Supreme Court challenge.

"Sally Rooney is finding out that she can't have her cake and eat it," a spokesperson for the U.K. activist group Campaign Against Antisemitism told CBS News, adding that it had reported the author to counterterrorism police over her vow to financially support Palestine Action.