By Alivia Stonier
Sally Rooney is an Irish author who is known for her beautiful work, not only on the pages but also on the big screen. Navigating complex dynamics and what it means to love people not only romantically but throughout your life in different senses, she has made a mark for her ability to articulate difficult emotions that come across in her characters.
Her career breakthrough happened nearly a decade ago in 2017, and fast forward to today, the author is currently facing censorship as her novels are being pulled from the shelves in the UK for her support of Palestine in the genocide that they are facing against Israel.
Courtesy of ELLE France.
Following Rooney’s decision to pledge ongoing financial support and royalties to Palestine Action, a direct-action group that the UK government proscribed and banned as a terrorist organization, her books were banned. The ban includes even her ebook formats, meaning that in the UK it is entirely wiped from all platforms to be able to be purchased, leading to a widespread censorship of all of her work.
This ban was finalized following activists breaking into RAF Brize Norton, a military airfield, using electric scooters to access the runway and spray-painting military refueling aircraft, which caused millions of pounds in damage.
According to reports, “under UK anti-terror law, terrorism is broadly defined to include "serious damage to property" when it is done to influence the government or intimidate the public for a political, ideological, or religious cause.” Meaning that when it came to the actions of Palestine Action, the government pointed to a pattern of coordinated sabotage targeting national infrastructure, government buildings, financial firms, and defense contractors, and once an organization is officially proscribed by the Home Office, Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it a severe criminal offense to invite, provide, or facilitate financial support or property to that group.
While the author has agreed with her publisher, Faber, to allow this pull to happen, as continuing to publish in the UK when they have deemed the group a terrorist organization would lead to breaking the law under UK jurisdiction, many of her fans in the area are still feeling an immense loss.
Faber, in a statement to BBC News, has made it clear that they continue to support the author: "We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories."
Courtesy of The New Statesman.
Many are finding it to be a concerning act of censorship, despite political commentators arguing that it is not such and instead prohibiting civil disobedience from being able to occur, as they did not challenge anything that was written in her actual material but her acts of engaging with what the UK deems a terrorist organization.
Despite following the legality of the way terrorist organization control is managed in the UK, it does call into question the active free speech in the ability to support who you wish to, especially in such large conflicts, for authors and those who have a platform that they wish to use for what they deem to be good.
What of the authors who openly support Israel and continue to be shelved daily? A country that has committed terrorist attacks and limited safety for children and their families, including the bombing of children.
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes, including starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, as well as crimes against humanity.
And yet Rooney can be published for supporting a group that caused damage to property; no matter if that is considered morally acceptable, it is undeniable that the act that Israel is committing against Palestine is despicable, and there is going to be a response.
It is entirely hypocritical how terrorism is being defined. Authors such as Colleen Hoover, who have been criticized for their perceived support of Israel, have continued to be shelved within the UK with no issues to face when it comes to being distributed across the country. Even as Israel continues to commit war crimes.
The UK community will undoubtedly continue to grieve this loss, and many still speak out in support of Sally Rooney and her decision to pull her books from shelves in order to still support the cause that she deems important to her. The author has never shied away from talking about the issues that matter to her, and this is a true extension of that, even when it causes strain in her professional career on a monetary level.
She has a voice that will ultimately continue to thrive despite this setback, and it is truly a loss to the UK reading community to not have access to the beautiful work of Sally Rooney.
