More than 150 figures from the world of culture and entertainment expressed this Wednesday their support for Irish writer Sally Rooney, whose books stopped being distributed in the United Kingdom due to her backing of the proscribed group Palestine Action.

"Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist," the signatories state in a brief open letter published on the website of the British magazine The New Statesman.

Among the signatories are major names in international literature, such as Canadian poet Anne Carson, French writer Annie Ernaux (both Nobel Prize winners in Literature), British writer Julian Barnes, Indian writer Arundhati Roy and Irish writer Colm Tóibín.

The manifesto also brings together figures from sports, film and television, among them former British footballer Gary Lineker.

The signatories are reacting to the announcement made last week about the cessation of sales of Sally Rooney's works in the United Kingdom, as a consequence of her support for Palestine Action, an organization banned in the country.

The Labour government declared Palestine Action a "terrorist" organization in July 2025, after several acts of vandalism at an air force base.

Since then, it has been prohibited to provide financial or material support to the movement.

In August 2025, the writer had announced in an article published in The Irish Times her intention to allocate part of her royalties, including income from the television adaptations of her novels, to the pro-Palestinian organization.

In their letter, the signatories denounce a measure "based on ill-conceived and draconian anti-terrorism legislation" that, in their view, constitutes "an attack on the fundamental principles of free expression, which have for so long been taken for granted in this country."

"We categorically reject censorship, whether direct or indirect," they add, and call on Andy Burnham's Labour government to "change course and amend the legislation that has led us to this repressive absurdity."

Since the banning of Palestine Action, more than 3,700 people have been arrested during demonstrations in support of the group, according to the collective Defend Our Juries.

The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, has launched a legal battle against the government to have the ban annulled, for which a hearing is scheduled for early November before the British Supreme Court.