Staff Reporter, Daily Dawn , Dawn TV
London: Irish novelist Sally Rooney has said that she intends to use the royalties she receives from the BBC to fund Palestine Action.
Palestine Action was outlawed in the UK last month under terrorism laws.
The ‘Normal People’ author made the remarks in a column in the Irish Times, where she argued that if her actions are considered terrorism under British law, ‘then they should be considered as such.’
‘My books are still published in the UK, and are widely available in bookshops and even supermarkets,’ she wrote. ‘In recent years, the BBC, the UK’s public broadcaster, has made two dramatisations of my novels, and I am being paid a regular fee for this.’
‘I want to make it clear that I intend to use the income I earn from my work, as well as my public platform in general, to support Palestine Action and the fight against genocide.’
‘If the British state considers this ‘terrorism’, then perhaps it should investigate the organisations that promote my work and fund my activities, such as WH Smith and the BBC,’ she said.
Palestine Action was listed by the UK Home Office in July. Secretary Yvette Cooper had declared it illegal after activists allegedly broke into Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and damaged two military aircraft, causing £7m in damage. Membership, support or funding of the group carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Rooney said she was forced to speak out after the arrest of “more than 500 peaceful protesters” in a single day on 9 August.
“If this action makes me a supporter of terrorism under UK law, then so be it.”
She accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government of stripping away citizens’ “fundamental rights and freedoms” to protect ties with Israel.
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