Sally Rooney to donate royalties to pro-Palestine charity

"I intend to use the income from my work, and my wider profile, to support Palestine Action," Sally Rooney , known for her commitment to Palestinian rights, announced in an op-ed published this weekend in The Irish Times .

As she explains in the newspaper, the Irish author receives royalties from the BBC, which co-produced and broadcast the television adaptations of Normal People (2020), a global success, and Conversations with Friends (2022).

In mid-July, the Palestine Action group was banned and added to the UK's list of terrorist organisations after vandalism at an air force base.

Since then, more than 700 people have been arrested and around sixty will be prosecuted for showing their support, particularly by holding up placards at rallies.

"In this context, I feel compelled to state once again (...) that I support Palestine Action. If this makes me a 'supporter of terrorism' under British law, so be it," wrote Sally Rooney, who lives in Ireland.

"I would happily publish this op-ed in a British newspaper, but that would now be illegal," adds the novelist, often described as the "voice" of the millennial generation, born in the 1980s and 1990s, and who defines herself as a Marxist.

Sally Rooney, who has sold millions of novels worldwide, refused in 2021 to have her third book, Where Are You, Admirable World?, translated into Hebrew by an Israeli publishing house that she considered too close to the government, provoking strong reactions within the Jewish community.

Several organizations and NGOs, including the United Nations, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International, have strongly condemned the ban on Palestine Action and warned that the arrests of its supporters threaten freedom of expression.

The founder of the organization, which aims to denounce "British complicity" with Israel, particularly in arms sales, has filed a legal appeal which is to be heard in November.