It’s hard to think of a published author in recent memory who risked arrest in the UK for their political beliefs, or whose books could only be published outside the UK. Sally Rooney went into this situation with her eyes open: last July, she said that royalties from her books and their BBC adaptations would go to support Palestine Action.
Rooney’s courage isn’t really about risking imprisonment, since there’s a way around that—which is what she’s doing by avoiding the UK. Instead, she has chosen the most difficult possible path for this cause. Authors can write essays and sign letters in support of the Palestinian people; actors can speak out in interviews; musicians can say it from the stage. There’s always a cost—whether it’s public, like being kicked off a global tour, or private, like being quietly shut out of opportunities. But such actions, even if they logically suggest support for a banned organisation, don’t involve actively breaking terrorism laws. Rooney was already taking a financial hit by pledging her royalties to Palestine Action, but at least that’s a cost you can calculate. The lost sales and opportunities that come from being effectively barred and banned in the UK are impossible to count.
Rooney has never been an apolitical writer, and now she has taken on the idea that caring about Gaza is somehow a crank’s life choice. Yet, speaking not as her accountant but as someone living in the same culture she inhabits and has described so powerfully, the value of her stand is equally hard to measure. Her authorial voice and body of work make this intervention distinctive in its reach. She’s never been an apolitical author. Normal People was razor sharp on class; Conversations With Friends wasn’t shy about Marxist analysis. But her work is also intimate, often domestic—the clue is in the name—these were always normal people. It was from a reputation for delicately challenging but everyday subtlety that Rooney took on her outrider position, and in doing so, she took on the idea that caring about Gaza is somehow a crank’s life choice. She insisted that it is a human response—as natural and ordinary, as passionate and important, as friendship.
And come on—surely at some point we’re allowed to say this—it makes an absolute mockery of the terrorism legislation being applied this way. Nobody anywhere thinks Sally Rooney poses a danger to the British state, or any state, just as nobody thinks a 94-year-old human rights barrister who was a friend of Ed Miliband’s late mother does. Keir Starmer, paradoxically, given that his two strengths were his caution and his legal background, painted himself into an absurd corner, where terrorism arrests rose from 250 to nearly 3,000 between 2024 and 2025. At protests where anyone bothered to count, more attendees were over 80 than under 20.
Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in UK due to Palestine Action support
The history and particular nature of Irish solidarity with the Palestinian cause have been discussed a lot since the painful Ed Sheeran tour, in which the singer thought he could quietly drop a support act over a pro-Palestine song without losing his backing band—Beoga, founding members of Irish Artists for Palestine. More broadly, Ireland has a vibrant tradition of young women with no reason to think they have the right to opine on geopolitics sticking their oar in anyway. The Dunnes Stores strike of 1984 began when 21-year-old Mary Manning refused to handle South African grapefruit, an action that cost her £21 a week in 80s money. It reached its political peak less than three years later, when Ireland banned South African goods altogether in protest at apartheid. In between, though, in 1985, Desmond Tutu met Manning and her fellow strikers on his way to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, extending as he did an invHe invited them to visit him in South Africa, and they took him up on it—only to be turned away at the border. This immediately echoes a state flexing its power at customs, yet only revealing its weakness in doing so. It also speaks to a writer who is, beyond that, an ordinary citizen—someone for whom lost royalties are almost the smallest part of the sacrifice, yet still a powerful symbol.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Sally Rooneys Position on Palestine
1 What is Sally Rooneys position on Palestine
She supports the Palestinian cause and has publicly criticized Israels treatment of Palestinians She also refuses to sell translation rights to Israeli publishers
2 Why do people call her position brave
Because she took a clear stance even though it could cost her money readers and media support Speaking up on Palestine often brings harsh backlash
3 Why is it called humane
Because it centers on peoplePalestinian lives rights and dignityrather than politics or profits
4 What did she actually do
In 2021 she declined to sell Hebrew translation rights for her novel Beautiful World Where Are You to an Israeli publisher citing her support for Palestinian rights
5 Did she refuse to have her books in Israel
No Her books are still available in Israel She only declined to work with one publisher that she said doesnt distance itself from Israels policies
6 Was she accused of antisemitism
Yes some critics accused her of that She rejected the accusation saying her decision was about opposing a states policies not Jewish people
7 How did she respond to the backlash
She stood by her decision She said she was proud to support Palestinian rights and grateful to those who supported her
8 What does cultural boycott mean here
It means refusing to do business with institutions tied to a governments policiesin this case an Israeli publisheras a form of protest
9 Is this related to BDS
Yes her decision aligns with the BDS movement which calls for pressure on Israel over its treatment of Palestinians She has expressed support for the movements goals
10 Does she support BDS fully
She has said she supports the BDS movement and its call for Palestinian freedom though shes described her own action as a personal decision
11 Whats the difference between criticizing Israel and being antisemitic
Criticizing a governments policies is not the same as hatred of Jewish people Many Jewish writers and groups also criticize Israeli policy
12 Why do some people disagree with her
Some believe boycotting Israeli publishers punishes ordinary readers and writers or that cultural
