Sally Rooney photographed outdoors. Photo: X
Irish novelist Sally Rooney has told the High Court in London that the UK’s ban on Palestine Action could prevent her from receiving royalties and may force her books to be withdrawn from sale across Britain.
Her statement was submitted as part of a judicial review examining the legality and impact of the government’s decision. The hearing is listed over three days — November 26 and 27, and December 2, 2025.
In her witness statement, Rooney said the ban has created significant uncertainty for her publisher, Faber & Faber, and for Element Pictures, the company behind the BBC adaptations of Normal People and Conversations With Friends, Reuters reported. She said the production company warned her, after receiving legal advice, that paying royalties could breach UK law because she has pledged to donate that income to Palestine Action.
She explained that if her publisher is unable to pay her, she would have the contractual right to halt publication, meaning her existing titles may have to be removed from British bookshops. Rooney described this outcome as “a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression”.
Rooney said it is “almost certain” she cannot publish new work in England and Wales while the ban remains in place, as no company could safely pay her without legal risk.
“If Palestine Action is still proscribed by the time my next book is due for publication, then that book may be available around the world but not in the United Kingdom,” she said.
The author added that she cancelled a planned visit to London earlier this year after being warned that her public support for the group could expose her to arrest under the same legislation.
The group was officially designated a “terrorist group” on July 5, 2025.
Since then, hundreds of people across the UK have faced arrest for opposing the ban on the direct-action group. Police have detained individuals displaying signs such as “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, with many people arrested under public order and security laws.
According to the campaign group Defend Our Juries, a protesters were arrested on Wednesday outside the Royal Courts of Justice during the opening hearings.
Campaigners describe the measure as unprecedented, saying it places a civil protest movement in the same legal bracket as organisations known for violence against civilians.
Palestine Action, founded in 2020 by British activist Richard Barnard and British-Palestinian campaigner Huda Ammori, carries out targeted direct actions against UK-based arms factories and companies that supply weapons to Israel. The group says its aim is to end what it describes as the UK’s complicity in “Israeli genocide and apartheid”, and to support Palestinian self-determination and the right of return for refugees.
This post was last modified on November 29, 2025 11:48 am