Sally Rooney Withdraws Her Books From UK Over Her Support of Palestine Action
New York Times · LC · trust 68/100
Ms. Rooney and her publisher said that she could no longer receive royalties from British sales because she pledged to donate book revenues to Palestine Action, which is banned in Britain.
Listen · 5:12 min Share full article Sally Rooney in Dublin in 2021. Credit... Ellius Grace for The New York Times By Stephen Castle
The publisher, Faber, said in a statement that “current legislation” meant it could no longer pay royalties from the United Kingdom to Ms. Rooney. It has therefore decided, the statement said, not to supply her work “in the U.K. in any format.”
Payment of royalties to Ms. Rooney could violate the law because she has promised to donate funds from her book sales to the banned group, Palestine Action.
Ms. Rooney said, in a statement released by her agent, that the publisher’s decision to halt U.K. sales had come “after a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement.”
The decision to withdraw her books means that Britons will no longer be able to buy best-selling novels including “ Normal People ” and “Conversations with Friends,” which have both been adapted for TV and proved highly popular.
The development will likely intensify the debate over the Labour government’s contentious decision in 2025 to use terrorism legislation to ban Palestine Action, which has claimed credit for several acts of vandalism but does not promote violence against individuals. The group’s members repeatedly damaged facilities linked to an Israeli weapons manufacturer and in June 2025 broke into R.A.F. Brize Norton, Britain’s largest air force base, spray-painting two aircraft.
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