Sally Rooney expresses support for UK high court decision striking down Palestine Action ban

Sally Rooney has expressed support for the UK high court’s recent decision striking down the ban on Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws.

The author of Normal People and Conversations with Friends had previously called the group’s proscription an "alarming attack on free speech.”

The high court struck down the ban, calling it “disproportionate and unlawful”, following a challenge brought by Huda Ammori, one of the co-founders of Palestine Action.

“I am of course immensely pleased and heartened that the high court has found the proscription of Palestine Action unlawful,” said Rooney in an interview with The Guardian. “This is a victory not only for the Palestine solidarity movement but also for civil liberties in Britain. The proscription of a political protest group under the Terrorism Act represents a truly extreme assault on ordinary rights and freedoms, and the high court acknowledged as much.”

UK home secretary Shabana Mahmoud said she was “disappointed” with the decision and that she intended to “fight th[e] judgment in the court of appeal.”

Pending this appeal, the ban has not yet been quashed, though police have stopped immediately arresting people for supporting Palestine Action. Prior to the decision, police arrested over 2,500 people for supporting the group.

Rooney, who continued to vocally support Palestine Action even after its UK ban, has been unable to visit the UK since last year for fear of arrest, and has said that the ban might block her next book’s publication in the UK.

“I am now feeling confident that the order will soon be quashed altogether, and that my work will remain in print in the UK as a result,” said Rooney to The Guardian. “I will look forward to visiting Britain again when that time comes.”