r/books • u/Raj_Valiant3011 • 12h ago
Sally Rooney says she is being forced to withdraw her books from the UK and is no longer able to recieve royalties because of her support for Palestine Action
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/14/sally-rooney-says-she-can-no-longer-sell-books-in-the-uk-because-of-palestine-action-support?CMP=share_btn_url5.9k
u/200koipondfranchises 12h ago
Really strange how many people in this comment section are happy with this, given that r/books is usually very anti-banning books
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u/ryanv09 11h ago edited 10h ago
Literally any post that hits the front page of reddit these days is getting astroturfed to hell and back by right-wing bots (edit: whether they be literal robots, state employees, or human-trafficked workers).
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u/Ok_Astronomer_6501 10h ago
It isn't even necessarily a front page thing, these bots go after specific keywords and you'll find them everywhere. Best way to know is to see if their post/comment history is private or not, or whether their account was made recently and their karma level.
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u/Stan_Corrected 9h ago
I was replying to a comment which is now deleted from a user named Ironlion45 trying to make your comment into an antisemitism strawman.
I'll just post it here because I went to the trouble of finding links, firstly there is evidence of pro Israel astroturf operations.
There is also Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA), hundreds of paid workers pretending to be ordinary users.
I don't know if there's evidence of coercion or exploitation in a particular operation but bot farms, and human sock puppets, pushing divisive content on social media is very real thing and we need to be more alert.
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u/HighlyOffensive10 12h ago
Bots
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u/ClockworkJim 11h ago
No. These are real people. They might be a single individual controlling 20 accounts, but these are real individuals.
Also be aware that as a whole this site is exceedingly Zionist friendly. To the point they can say the most horrible things and not have to worry about their account being banned. But if you repeat the same thing to them but change the nouns, you might get your account banned.
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u/wowsomuchempty 11h ago
The Israelis dedicate huge resource to 'image management' online.
Not always bots, sometimes real people.
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u/No_Internal9345 11h ago
"It's a figure of speech, Morty! They're bureaucrats! I don't respect them!"
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u/edson2000 10h ago
Their image management has gone to shit lately, most people think they are class act c*nts at present
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u/Bluestreaked 10h ago
Which fascinates longtime anti-Zionists like myself
My argument is that they got so used to speaking insane to each other that they forgot how deranged they sound to non-Israelis
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u/dexters_trap_house 10h ago
I think the crack in the wall for people who don't follow politics really started to form when the ADL was defending Elon's nazi salutes, and StopAntisemitism put Ms. Rachel on the finalist list of antisemites of the year.
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u/brenbot99 10h ago
Not really working fot them.. I'm only seeing massively anti Israel comments near the top.
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u/Cutsa 11h ago
I dont know about that. Maybe its the subs I frequent but most will ban you for anything hinting at anti-palestine sentiment or pro-israel sentiment, not to mention the dreaded down votes.
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u/Merisuola 10h ago
Yep, it drastically changes depending on the sub - compare /r/news vs /r/worldnews for example, they’re polar opposites.
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u/Effective_Olive6153 9h ago
even if there are real people that do this stuff, you can't deny that bots are a big part of it. Pretty much 50% of all Reddit traffic is bots and they are not all Russian. There are always like a few dozen major bot nets operating and Israel is one of the major players, besides China and Elon Musk's bot army
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u/theREALbombedrumbum 10h ago
Damn, looks like they finally found another data center after that one got hit by Ukranian forces the other day
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u/PittsburghPenis 9h ago
Anyone who thinks the data center resulted in a decrease in bots on social media doesn't know about data centers or bots. The data center hit used web crawling bots to index for Yandex. This is how when you use a search engine you find webpages. Bots that influence social media were completely unaffected.
When you're looking at global bots the USA is the biggest player at almost 1/4th of all bots, followed by China, Brazil, Singapore, Vietnam. Even if you only look at Europe, multiple western European countries have far more bots than Russia, Russia is less than 10% of European bot traffic.
About 60% of all internet traffic are now bots. The hits on Yandex represented a less than 1% decline of that 60%. To top it off, only about 13% of web traffic are bots are actually good, these things like indexers for search engines; which is what got hit.
Russian social media bots are not being run out of Russia, they're being run from bot farms in China, Singapore, India, Vietnam etc. Unless Ukraine launched a secret attack inside Shanghai social media bots were completely unimpacted.
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u/RascalRandal 11h ago
Pro-Israel folks would throw away every western value to support Israel.
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u/wakaflockaquokka 11h ago
I don't think her books are banned though? Her UK publisher dropped her but it's still legal to sell the books.
Also, I was curious what "Palestine Action" was and found this article from 2025 which indirectly explains what is happening:
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u/erisia 11h ago edited 10h ago
“As a result, the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence. After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK. I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.”
That is a direct quote. That qualifies her works as being banned from being sold in the UK.
Edit: putting the definition of ban here so that people who reply to me maybe know how words work.
banned; banning; bans Synonyms of ban
transitive verb 1 : to prohibit especially by legal means
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u/Fuzzy_Squirrel_ 11h ago
I saw someone on a UK sub say "I'm as liberal as the next person but the UK is not the US. We don't need unlimited freedoms." and I thought to myself... and which freedoms are you personally ok with limiting and what is your recourse when the freedoms you personally like are the ones that get limited?
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u/Pretend-Sundae-2371 10h ago
Who the hell thinks the US has unlimited freedom??
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u/username_elephant 10h ago
Rich white people.
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u/AbsorbedWheat42 9h ago
America stands for FREEDOM but if you think your free, try walking into a deli and urinating on the cheese.
Source: Anarchy Burger
Artist: The Vandals
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u/Turdship_ButtleFlaps 9h ago
Yeah, that's anarchy, but it's not freedom. The deli doesn't have the freedom to do business without fear of destruction to property. In a free society the social contract exists and laws are created to maintain it so that everyone can coexist peacefully, or at least that is the idea but clearly some things have broken over the years.
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u/cute_spider 10h ago
Look I don't personally need most of my freedoms but it's better to have freedom and not need it than need freedom and not have it
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u/NeedleworkerNo5262 10h ago
The US having unlimited freedoms or being the freest is just a myth. There are plenty of things which are limited, the US is also ranked lower than the UK in the World Freedom Index, Press Freedom Index, Human Rights Index or Democracy Index. This high horse has shorter legs than Americans tend to believe.
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u/PeachyBaleen 9h ago
It’s also not really a common talking point that the US is particularly free outside the US. It smells like a bot comment
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u/Cutwail 10h ago
The main UK subs are (unfortunately) right-leaning for the most part, and seems to love the idea of jailing people for holding signs.
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u/Common-Economics1867 11h ago
Loads are limited. That’s what laws generally are for.
The recourse is parliamentary democracy and elections.
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u/Federal_Gur_5488 11h ago
It's very admirable how she's chosen to stand for her beliefs. The world would be a better place if more people chose principle over money.
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u/WildWasteland42 11h ago
This is really showing the absurdity of our current historical moment, years from now people are going to marvel at the hypocrisy and hysteria surrounding anti-Zionist activism, same as apartheid South Africa, Jim Crow US and more. Sally Rooney continues to be based
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u/Loud-Platypus-987 11h ago edited 10h ago
Some of the comments in here are hilarious revisionism on how protest works.
Wait until you hear about how the suffragettes got things done.
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u/NakedJaked 10h ago
There’s a huge reason why the American education system speaks only of MLK and Gandhi.
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u/Kindly-Buyer2739 10h ago
and even then , they white wash and water down the fuck out of MLK
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u/Jewronski 10h ago
You would never know he was a socialist from what is taught in schools.
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u/Andjhostet 3 9h ago
No coincidence he was shot right when he started preaching socialism a lot more, imo. He went to Memphis to support striking workers, and was organizing a multi-racial, class-based march.
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u/Silent-Cable-9882 10h ago
Even the Civil Rights movement they love to whitewash used a lot of civil disobedience. It’s the basics of protest. Just waving a sign tends to do nothing but make you feel more useful than you are.
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u/britishbrandy 12h ago
This comments section is full of bots. Manufacturing consent is underway
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u/SayHelloToAlison 10h ago
It's crazy too because courts have already ruled Palestine action is not a terrorist group and should not have been proscribed, but left all the restrictions in place while the final appeal happens.
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u/Treefingerzz 12h ago
Sally Rooney is a fucking boss, and I admire her for standing up against this bullshit.
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u/InAppropriate-meal 11h ago
They broadened the definition of terrorism in the UK to 'significant' destruction of property, leaving it up to the government to define 'significant', that is the only reason they could get away with declaring them a terrorist organization
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u/sihyeonism 12h ago
can someone explain why and how they can even enforce it? what happened to freedom and speech?
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u/Common-Economics1867 12h ago
The UK is not the US. The British government and parliament has the power in the same way it has to make any other law.
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u/hoopaholik91 12h ago
Also, in the US the same thing can happen if you are providing material support to a sanctioned entity
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u/Blarfk 11h ago
It would be a lot more complicated. Transfers to that entity could be blocked, but it would be much harder for the US government to order books be withdrawn from shelves.
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u/Adamsoski 11h ago edited 11h ago
That isn't exactly what's happened here, the UK government hasn't directly ordered that books be withdrawn, it's that the publisher can't work out a way to legally pass any revenue from her books onto her so is going to stop selling them, meaning her books won't be supplied to any bookshops. The books could be sold just fine so long as no revenue was going to her (obviously though that is not a good outcome).
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u/SawdustGringo 11h ago
Would it though? If the last decade has taught us anything it is that the rules of law we thought we had mean nothing if the governing body chooses to ignore them.
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u/Blarfk 11h ago
Anything could happen I suppose, but that in particular would be a real Rubicon. It would be like Trump personally outlawing the new Elon Musk documentary from being aired - it would be a huge deal, and even the most conservative judges wouldn't allow it.
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u/jce_ 11h ago
I don't think UK has an actual official freedom of speech either. They have a vague freedom of expression, but that's not the same
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u/Mindless-Baker-7757 12h ago
After Palestine Action was banned last year, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her sales to support Palestine Action. Supporting organisations banned under the Terrorism Act is an offence and she subsequently cancelled a trip to the UK to pick up an award, for fear of arrest.
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u/MysteriousTravelator 10h ago
To be clear she could have sent that money directly to Palestine or to charities that support Palestine.
Instead she chose to send it to an organisation that attacks british police with sledgehammers and sabotages british military planes.
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u/w311sh1t 12h ago
I’m sorry, I know it’s a serious topic, but seeing it referred to as “freedom and speech” made me chuckle. Reminds me of “bone apple teeth”
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u/Cromuland 11h ago
Even if this was in the US, freedom of speech is the right to not be targeted by the government, because of your speech.
In this case, she's declared that she will send financial support to a group that has been marked as terrorists. There are definitely similar laws in the US, against sending financial aid to a terrorist organisation.
Should this particular group even be marked as terrorists? And what actions constitute "support"? For example, some people were arrested simply for holding placards saying they supported the group Palestine Action.
The case is under trial, right now, details in the article.
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u/Finlay00 12h ago
The UK government had deemed Palestine Action to be a terrorist group since July 2025
Therefore working with them has consequences
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u/VulpesFennekin 11h ago
My cousin used to work with them through his old job - not even directly for them - and has had his passport flagged, that’s how seriously they’re taking it!
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u/apple_kicks 11h ago
All elderly people they arrest who protest for them are told ‘this will impact their relatives employment’. So you don’t actually have to be part of their company to possibly have issues but maybe only when convicted
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u/Finlay00 11h ago
Yea if your own government has classified a group as a terrorist organization, you should be cautious about associating with them in any capacity
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u/Lukas_Madrid 12h ago
We dont have a constitution or anything. The closest we have is the magna carta and last year the government tried to remove trial by jury, a right that has been around since like the 13th century. Scary times, everyones heads in the sands about government authoritarianism
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u/dragon-queen 12h ago
Don’t worry, the U.S. doesn’t really have a Constitution that’s enforceable anymore either.
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u/Intrepid_Ad1715 10h ago
TIL that the only person who can legally appoint the UK prime minister is the King.
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u/CharlesLeRoq 11h ago
The UK does have a constitution. It’s not a single written formalised document, which is what you mean.
The Magna Carta helps form UK’s constitution, along with many other key declarations, laws and precedents
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u/JD0x0 11h ago
It's the UK.
"Palestine Action" is a specific group that got a terrorist designation in the UK because of an attack they committed on an RAF airbase, and due to injuring a police officer with a sledgehammer in a separate incident.
You can support Palestine without supporting a group that has committed violent actions on UK soil.
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u/killswitch101 10h ago
'Injuring' is putting it lightly, she has life long injuries now because they broke her back when hitting her with a sledge hammer
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u/kersplatttt 12h ago
You're not free to give money to terrorist organisations in the UK. There are so many Palestine organisations she could direct her royalties to, but she insists it has to be the one that was behind the sabotage of British military equipment (hence why they were proscribed). She's playing victim and relying on terrible reporting from the Guardian to misinform people instead of actually helping anyone.
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u/Adventurous_Storm356 12h ago
The amount to which the Guardian has deteriorated in the past decade, cannot be put into words.
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u/dementorpoop 11h ago
You’re treating the terrorist designation as the justification for itself. Whether they should have been classified as terrorists is the whole argument. Repeating “you can’t fund terrorists” doesn’t answer that.
Yes, they damaged military aircraft. That doesn’t automatically justify treating the organisation and its supporters under terrorism laws, and it doesn’t make their grievance illegitimate.
“Donate somewhere else” also misses the point. She’s objecting to the criminalisation of this particular movement. And she explicitly said she accepts the consequences, so where does “playing victim” come into it? You can disagree with her without pretending the existence of a law settles whether it’s justified.
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u/Tastyfishsticks 11h ago
Explains a terrorist action. Then goes on to say but ....... lol. I love reddit.
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u/NeverHadTheLatin 11h ago
Parliament debated, Parliament voted, you can vote to change Parliament in a few years.
That’s how the system works, precisely in order to stop people going around damaging property and attacking police because they feel justified to do so.
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u/Frostymagnum 11h ago
You're not free to give money to terrorism in either the US or UK
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u/thedreadcat666 12h ago
Sounds like it would be the publishers decision because they can't give her the royalties while she donates them to a proscribed group.
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u/PM__Me__UR__Dimples 11h ago
She is providing money to an entity designated as a terrorist organization by her government.
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u/Lulzsecks 11h ago
Sally Rooney is Irish so it isn’t her government.
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u/mxzf 10h ago
"The government in the jurisdiction being discussed regarding book sales" is more accurate, but it's a mouthful.
She's not prevented from selling the book globally, or even in the UK; the UK is just going "if you're going to sell books in our country, you can't turn around and give the money to people we have designated as a terrorist organization". It's not exactly a hot-take on the scale of government actions.
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u/FrancisFratelli 10h ago
Doesn't matter if it's a mouthful, telling an Irish citizen that the UK is their government is fighting words.
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u/Busy-Doughnut6180 11h ago
By the UK government. Sally Rooney is from the Republic of Ireland. I tried looking it up but couldn't find if ROI also designated the group that way.
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u/AvidReader1604 12h ago
It’s not the same as in the US, the UK has a different concept of rights. Freedom of speech can be curtailed much more easily.
The UK’s decision to proscribe PA as a terrorist organization(given the grounds it’s basing its decision on) is a blatant example of how the government abuses its power.
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u/KorunaCorgi 11h ago
PA attacked a military base and damages aircraft. Aircraft that were going to Ukraine. Unrelated to Israel or Palestine.
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u/No-Market425 11h ago
Im sure it had nothing to do with Palestine Action cracking a female officers spine with a sledgehammer.
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u/NuPNua 11h ago
How many governments around the world would accept protest groups sabotaging their military equipment?
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u/JBstard 11h ago
It's literally happened in the UK in the past and the group was not proscribed as a result.
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u/a_man_has_a_name 10h ago
It wasn't just that, they were also breaking into arms manufactured to disrupt their operations.
They also had a manual saying they should have a cell like structure and provided instructions and methods on how to carry out attacks on defence manufacturers, private property and companies, and government building.
It also had a target list of building and sites they wanted attacked.
So it was a violent group (even if they didn't attack people) with a political motive, targeting mainly an industry that would benefit countries like Russia.
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u/NuPNua 11h ago
Palestine Action are a proscribed group as their activity went beyond protesting to to actions like trashing private business premises and attempting to sabotage British military equipment. You can support Gaza/Palestine as much as you like, but you can't support this group due to their behaviour.
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u/Glass_Arm_Shattered 12h ago
It's the UK, just say something borderline transphobic and they'll give you the royalties back
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u/gizmostrumpet 11h ago
Americans keep saying this about us then elect Trump for a second time.
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u/Friend_or_FoH 11h ago
Wearing the clown shoes of democracy is certainly not something we have a monopoly on in the US.
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u/WeTheSummerKid 10h ago
Estimated chance this thread will be locked: 98.79% within 24 hours. Because I still have time, I want to remind everyone that all people deserve human rights and Palestinians are human beings.
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls 12h ago edited 12h ago
Ah the murky line between being unable to sell the books, yet continuing to sell them, while being unable to give royalties, yet..wait they managed to follow that ruling pretty well?
Like damn I haven’t had a trip over to London in a few months but can someone clarify if her books have actually been wiped off a shelves? Or is there case that they will sell remaining stock, never reprint in the UK, but keep all royalties from the remaining stock across the UK?
Obviously there’s the bigger issue of banning an author for her views, or governments just slapping terrorist labels on groups, but from a very plain and simple business perspective, why does it feel like Faber are taking home 100% profits without actually facing consequences for profiting off the remaining books in retail inventory?
And before it’s even mentioned, when this process all began around a year ago, a lot of yall were uncomfortably pro-ban, let’s hope that shit has changed now that you’ve seen how easily government censorship can act when you just shrug your shoulders and let them do what they want.
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u/Zealousideal_Cap7012 12h ago
The publishing company may retract her books purely because she cannot receive royalties potentially due to pledging them to a terrorist org.
So the retraction benefits her in any case until the ruling is done. Otherwise shed make 0 from them and would be basically losing money as an opportunity cost.
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u/Zealousideal_Cap7012 12h ago
Very very misleading title. Perhaps to be expected from the Guardian...
She pledged her royalties to an organization which is legally under the category of "terrorist organization". As such that is causing legal difficulties with her getting the royalties long as she keeps insisting it go directly to them.
She of course could take the one of MANY non terrorist organizations that support Palestine.. as the vaaast majority do.
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u/Empty_Soup_4412 12h ago
The UN human rights office, civil liberty groups and amnesty international have all condemned the designation.
Good for her to be standing against genocide.
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u/Far-Imagination2736 11h ago
I feel like this doesn't properly convey what they said. It wasn't because they believed their actions weren't wrong or anything
The UN human rights office said only those who targeted the military should be punished rather than the entire organisation.
Our security office responded saying those not involved can join literally any of pro Palestine group not involved in targeting the military
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u/fuckmeimdan 11h ago
And they are using the same “law” that Thatcher created to make Sinn Féin a terrorist organisation to ensure that Irish political voices were not allowed on television or to give interviews in the press, to ensure the news was suppressed and the narrative controlled. Make of that what you will
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u/spike312 12h ago
A 90 year old holocaust survivor holding a "free Palestine" protest sign is legally supporting terrorism under UK laws
It's almost like the UK is restricting free speech under the guise of preventing terrorism
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u/Adventurous_Storm356 12h ago
A 90 year old holocaust survivor holding a "free Palestine" protest sign is legally supporting terrorism under UK laws
Do you have a link to the article where a 90 year old holocaust survivor has been charged with supporting terrorism for doing nothing but holding a "Free Palestine" sign?
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u/Colorado_designer 11h ago
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u/2796Matt 11h ago
The key words here are “Palestine Action”, she wasn’t arrested for supporting or saying “free Palestine”, but for supporting Palestine Action. Furthermore, she is also not a Holocaust survivor but did have family die in the Holocaust.
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u/Adventurous_Storm356 11h ago
So it was not a Free Palestine poster, it was a poster explicitly supporting a group that was placed on the terrorist list. And the lady explicitly said that she was "trying to get arrested". That is a VERY different picture than some innocent old person with a Free Palestine sign. Jeez people, read the articles you post....
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u/GeeWhiz357 11h ago
It’s like the old “these days if you say you’re English they arrest you and throw you in prison” but the left-wing version.
Plus anyone who lives in the UK knows there’s a pro-Palestine protest nearly every other week and they’re completely fine.
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u/TakenInChains 11h ago
https://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/20/stop_the_violence_from_ferguson_to
not my horse, but after some quick googling, these were the only two articles I could find that mentioned anything about a 90 year old being arrested for protesting for Gaza.
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u/Adventurous_Storm356 11h ago
if you read even the al-Jazeera one, it already says she was not holding an innocent Free Palestine sign, but had a poster with the name and logo of a group that was labeled terrorist. And also she said she was trying to get arrested. So....yeah.
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u/slpgh 11h ago
Yes because lord knows we have never seen anyone In the uk holding a Palestinian flag or calling for free Palestine - they’re all in jail. Amirite?
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u/royals796 12h ago
Can I just ask what element of free speech allows you to break a woman’s back with a sledgehammer?
If that incident hadn’t occurred and been committed under the name of Palestine Action then they wouldn’t be proscribed.
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u/kersplatttt 12h ago
Nope. Certainly not because they're holding a "free Palestine" sign. You wouldn't be trying to misinform people would you?
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u/EenProfessioneleHond 12h ago
Not true at all. And you know it’s not true as well.
PA is deemed a terrorist organisation. If you support them then yes you can be arrested, but not at all just by saying “free palestine”
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u/Obrix1 12h ago
You just get arrested for a Plasticine Action T-shirt instead
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u/The_Bitter_Bear 11h ago edited 10h ago
If you had a shirt saying "Plasticine Action" would not get arrested.
Edit: Here I was thinking I was picking on a typo.
Sigh, guess cops are gonna cop no matter where they are.
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u/Obrix1 11h ago
Except people have been;
With them trying to inflate the charge before getting slapped back by senior officers.
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u/The_Bitter_Bear 10h ago
Well no shit. Here I was thinking I was picking on a typo.
Totally missed that story.
Holy shit that shirt is great too. I appreciate the sense of humor folks can have over there. Of course the dumbass cops took the bait too.
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u/McCretin 11h ago
Someone actually was by accident, but was released after about five minutes when the officer realised his mistake.
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u/The_Bitter_Bear 10h ago
Yeah, I missed that story entirely and thought I was picking on a typo.
I'm tired of this timeline where satire became reality.
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u/wizardeverybit 12h ago
No it isn't, get your facts right. You are free to support Palestine, just not Palestine Action
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u/tarlin 12h ago
Oh yeah, the terrorism that Starmer defended in court in the past successfully, before declaring this as terrorism.
Supporting freedom for abused and occupied people is not wrong.
History will judge those that stood against it.
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u/PartyPoison98 12h ago
Starmer did one of those things in his capacity as a lawyer, where he is responsible for arguing a particular interpretation of existing law, and another as a politician, where he creates and changes laws. Prescribing PA was stupid, but lets not be disingenuous.
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u/tarlin 11h ago
He did the act as a lawyer pro-bono.
And no law was changed to proscribe the group.
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u/rivains 11h ago
Its absolutely bullshit its proscribed as a terrorist organisation, and everyone knows it
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u/olivebranchsound 12h ago
Circular logic and begging the question. They can be designated that without being that. Many have criticized that very thing.
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u/Zealousideal_Cap7012 12h ago
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/contents
As per UK law it is unequivocally a terrorist organization, based on its embraced actions.
Theres many many many other organizations that are pro palestine or Palestinian owned that she could donate proceedings to.
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u/olivebranchsound 12h ago
Break ins, protests, and property damage got them the designation. By that standard how is any petty vandal not a terrorist?
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u/halster123 11h ago
by that standard, how is any union org not a terrorist or feminist orgs, given their techniques in the 1950s and 1920s...?
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u/olivebranchsound 11h ago
Now you understand why the designation is arbitrary and capricious. You could label those groups the same way. The bar to clear is so low as to be meaningless.
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u/halster123 11h ago
yes, i agree with you, i was trying to reinforce your point on how ridiculous it is.
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u/gbghgs 10h ago
It was the deliberate sabotage of RAF aircraft that got them proscribed. They were flying under the public radar until then. RAF aircraft that had nothing to do with Israel or the Gaza war to boot. If protest groups escalate to deliberate sabotage of military equipment (and spraying paint into the turbines is very much sabotage) then they should be prepared for an escalation in how the goverment treats them.
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u/fishchop 11h ago edited 11h ago
The proscription of Palestine Action was a deeply unpopular move by ex Home Secretary under ex PM Kier Starmer and is probably going to be reversed soon. It’s the stupidest thing and one of the many reasons Starmer’s cabinet was so thoroughly disliked, since it is an attack on the UK’s long history of dissent and protest. Palestine Action is going to get deproscribed soon, once the Supreme Court hears all the appeals against its proscription. The next hearing is in November.
Here’s a 94 year old Jewish human rights lawyer who comes from a family of Holocaust survivors, getting arrested for supporting PA.
There are weekly protest actions mostly be elderly people in support of PA - ex lawyers, retired nurses and doctors, veterans, Holocaust survivors, academics etc. It has been a terrible year for optics for the Labour government and the police (also a massive waste of police resources). Sally Rooney is obviously one of the many prominent personalities showing their support for Palestine Action to apply pressure for its deproscription. The pressure is working - Ed Miliband has acknowledged how popular protest and citizen’s dissent led to his recent announcement of sanctions on the West Bank.
Expect Palestine Action to no longer be a terrorist organisation by next year. So your comment is irrelevant and pretty silly in the grander scheme of things.
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u/NuclearTheology 11h ago
No no no you see because she’s “supporting Palestine” you’re not allowed to scrutinize her or where the money she’s donating is going. Stated intent is enough. Don’t look any further
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u/ApartMaximum2335 9h ago
Know this word gets thrown around a lot but this is fascism, how have we got to this point
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u/Narrow-Path-607 9h ago
Started decades ago, but the patriot act onwards we are truly speed running out way back into feudalism and fascism.
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u/lawanddisorder 12h ago
"The group was banned shortly after a June break-in at the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton base, in which activists damaged two military planes."
The ruling comes after four people were jailed for criminal damage relating to a 2024 raid on an Elbit factory in southern England. One of the defendants was also found guilty of hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer.
Not sure I agree with the ban but some of Palestinian Action's members have clearly crossed the line into violence.
https://www.reuters.com/world/britain-wins-appeal-that-palestine-action-ban-was-unlawful-2026-06-15/
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u/Star_king12 11h ago
Not the people in the comments defending this as "break ins and vandalism" lmao
How fucking stupid do you have to be to attach an air force base? What else do you expect? Roses and rainbows? How did this help the cause?
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u/random_actuary 12h ago
I wouldn't characterize vandalizing military equipment as violence.
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u/DrunkKalashnikov 11h ago
One of their members hit a police officer in the back with a sledgehammer. That is categorically violent.
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u/NakedJaked 10h ago
There were a few violent activists in American civil rights movement. Does that invalidate the civil rights movement?
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u/Far-Imagination2736 11h ago
But would characterise as breaking someone's back with a sledgehammer as violence
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u/Own_Confidence_1348 10h ago
The UK does not have the same freedom of speech protections as the US and, honestly, every case I’ve seen where the protections diverge has made me really glad to have the first amendment. From journalists not being allowed to speak out about probable false convictions like the Lucy Letby case, to that woman who got arrested for tweeting “kill all white men,” to how easy it is to accidentally commit libel there, it all just makes me feel even more strongly that freedom of speech is a right worth defending. Of course all kinds of censorship still happen in the United States, but it’s important to have freedom of speech at least as a principle to avoid outcomes like this. Anyway, good for Sally Rooney, and to all the bots/pro censorship commenters, please go read a book.
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u/AwfulPhotographer 9h ago
The issues are a little more complicated than pro/against genocide. It's deeply rooted in racism and religion, so I don't see it being resolved any time soon
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u/_Former_Instance_ 10h ago edited 10h ago
Supporting Palestine is not the same as supporting the proscribed group "Palestine Action." This a group that in "support" of Palestine broke into an RAF base and grounded planes, as well as broke the spine of a policewoman with a sledgehammer.
It's akin to there being a difference between saying "Muslim fundamentalist terrorists are bad" and "Muslims are bad" - a few words dramatically change the statement.
The thing is, lots of people don't know the difference between "I support Palestine" and "I support Palestine Action*" and therefore explicitly support the latter to bring legal action and attention to the former from people who don't get the distinction.
*I do not, GCHQ, this is a demonstrative statement.
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u/FunnyMalzairIdea 9h ago
The Israel lobby is making life worse for actual citizens of England, harming their speech rights and this only benefits Israel. This is being done by the English governing class and in no way benefits England. This is rank corruption.
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u/intelligentprince 11h ago
If she lives in Ireland, her royalties are tax free (artists don’t pay tax on royalties) she can then donate from Ireland, I think….could be wrong