Culture
10 Mar 26

Sally Rooney says it is an “honour” to stand with Palestine at the People’s Congress for the Hague Group

Credit: Kalpesh Lathigra

“I would like to ask my fellow writers and artists,” said the Normal People author, “not to dwell too exclusively on what we stand to lose.

Sally Rooney said standing with Palestine is the “honour of our lifetime” at the People’s Congress for the Hague Group, organised by Progressive International this Saturday.

In a video published by Novara Media, Rooney is seen addressing the crowd and recognising the increasing participation of “artists, writers and other public figures in the wealthy global north” in speaking out against genocide and joining formal protest. As a vocal supporter of Palestine, she then pointed to the conversation often being centered around the consequences of her own activism, adding that "I can't help feeling that that is simply the wrong question.”

“I know that by speaking out,” she continued, “we may end up out of favour with the media and indeed, perhaps in trouble with the increasingly repressive architecture of authoritarian law. But I would like to ask my fellow writers and artists, if I may, not to dwell too exclusively on what we stand to lose."

Rooney went on to call solidarity with Palestine “something greater than ourselves,” and said that it was more important “to participate, in some small way, in a struggle for human liberation, to stand for what we know in our hearts is right and try not to be complicit in what we know is wrong.”

“For those of us living at the heart of empire,” the Normal People author concluded, “those of us who have the extraordinary privilege of a public platform, it is not a question of paying a price. On the contrary, we should see and say that it is the honour of our lives to stand with Palestine.”

Rooney has been under scrutiny in the UK, largely due to her vocal support for Palestine Action, even following its ban under the UK Terrorism Act in July.

Before the recent UK High Court strike down on the ban, she had been unable to visit the UK for fear of arrest, and had said that the ban might block her next book’s publication in the UK.

Since a US- and Qatar-brokered “ceasefire” came into effect in October, 640 Palestinians have been killed and at least 1,700 wounded, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. At least 72,123 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 while 171,805 people have been injured.

Watch Sally Rooney’s full speech at the People’s Congress for the Hague Group below: