Sally Rooney Declines UK Publication Due to Palestine Action ban
Irish author Sally Rooney has stated she will be unable to publish future books in the UK while Palestine Action remains a proscribed organization,a decision revealed during a judicial review challenging the group’s designation as terrorist. The case,heard on Thursday,centers on whether the UK’s definition of terrorism unlawfully extends to property damage.
The court heard arguments from Adam Straw KC,representing Ben Saul,the UN special rapporteur on protecting human rights whilst countering terrorism,alongside interventions from Liberty and Amnesty UK. Straw submitted that there is a “consensus, or emerging consensus, that this proscription was an unlawful interference in international law” and that “the definition of terrorism does not extend to serious damage to property.”
Sir James Eadie KC, responding on behalf of the home secretary, countered that the UK parliament holds the authority to define terrorism, asserting that the current definition “includes serious damage to property, whether or not alongside it there is violence against people.”
The judicial review follows the proscription of Palestine Action, a group that directly targets businesses complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan police arrested 143 individuals outside the court, alleging support for the proscribed group. The final day of the judicial review is scheduled for Tuesday.
