Change Course
"Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist," reads the letter also signed by Zadie Smith, Tilda Swinton, Kate Nash, and more
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.
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“We categorically reject censorship – whether direct or indirect – and urge the government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity,” the open letter continues. Other signees include Zadie Smith, Tilda Swinton, Kate Nash, Jonathan Glazer, and more than 150 others.
Rooney’s publisher Faber determined it could “no longer supply my work within the UK,” Rooney said in recent a statement to the Guardian. She noted the decision was made with her full agreement. “I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions,” she said. “And I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.”