Sally Rooney books will no longer be sold in the United Kingdom after her publisher Faber decided it could not continue supplying her work there. The decision follows the author’s public support for the activist group Palestine Action, which the UK government banned as a terrorist organisation in July 2025.
The ban places Palestine Action on the same list as groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. It is illegal in Britain to belong to, support or finance the organisation. The ban does not apply in Ireland, where Rooney lives.
Faber explained that current UK law creates a situation where the publisher cannot pass on earnings from UK sales to the author. Selling a writer’s work without being able to pay the writer is something the publisher described as unacceptable. With Rooney’s full agreement, Faber has stopped supplying her books in any format inside the UK. Sales will continue in other countries and regions.
Rooney, best known for novels including Normal People and Intermezzo, had previously said she would donate her earnings to Palestine Action. In a statement she said that fulfilling contracts to publish her work in the UK could now amount to a serious criminal offence. She added that she is prepared to accept the consequences of her beliefs.
The group’s co-founder is appealing the ban, and Britain’s Supreme Court is due to hear the case next month. Thousands of people have protested against the proscription, and some rights organisations and public figures have criticised it as an attack on free expression.
Palestine Action describes its goal as ending global involvement in what it calls Israel’s policies in Gaza and the occupied territories. The ban followed a series of high-profile actions against weapons factories linked to the Israeli arms industry.
The withdrawal of Rooney’s books marks a rare case in which a major literary publisher has stopped distributing an author’s work in one of its largest markets because of legal risks tied to the writer’s political stance.
