Children's authors to donate to Sally Rooney amid Palestine Action row

The children's laureates for Wales and Ireland are to give their book royalties to Sally Rooney after she halted UK sales because of her support for Palestine Action.

Nicola Davies and her Irish counterpart Chris Haughton made the decision after she stopped supplying her novels to booksellers in the UK because of fears her work could constitute a "serious criminal offence".

The Normal People author said in 2025 she intended to carry on using her royalties to support the group , despite it being a proscribed a terrorist organisation in the UK .

Davies said: "I don't think I can say I'm standing up for children in Wales without standing up for children in Palestine."

Speaking about the war in Gaza, Wales' children's literature laureate added: "They are children, they are innocent children. Caught up in something absolutely horrible.

She said she's in no way antisemitic but she cannot "stand by and watch this happen."

Davies said she would donate her royalties from The Day War Came to Rooney - the book tells the story of a young girl forced to flee her home after war destroys her town.

The UK government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation in 2025, saying it had a "long history" of criminal damage.

It came after the group claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton last year where two military aircrafts were damaged.

Palestine Action has engaged in activities that have predominantly targeted arms companies since the start of the war in Gaza.

There are 84 organisations proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 , including al-Qaeda, a jihadist network founded by the late Osama Bin Laden, as well as neo-Nazi group National Action and private Russian military company the Wagner Group.

"It's a ridiculous situation... the British government have dug themselves into a very big hole," said Davies about the Palestine Action ban.

"It's not about politics, belief systems, it's about humanity."

Davies said Gaza was half the size of the Welsh county of Flintshire and compared the war there between Israel and Hamas to Wales having all of its children located there and being bombed.

"The population of Palestine has a very high proportion of children, they have been disproportionally impacted... there are tens of thousands of amputees under the age of 10."

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on the country on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 74,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, including at least 21,976 children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

The UN says another 10,000 children in Gaza have sustained life-changing injuries, including permanent disabilities.

Asked if she was concerned about any potential repercussions for donating her royalties to Rooney, Davies said: "Of course - but the repercussions for those in Gaza are horrific."

She said she understood Palestine Action was a proscribed group, but added: "As far as British law is concerned, I'm not doing anything illegal.

"I'm not donating to Palestine Action, I'm donating to Sally Rooney as an act of solidarity."

Rooney has sold more than six million books globally, including 2.3 million in the UK, according to NielsenIQ BookData.

Normal People was published in 2018 and turned into a hit TV series two years later, effectively launching the acting careers of Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Rooney's other novels are Intermezzo, Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You.

Ebook editions of her books have been removed from sale in the UK, although many book shops still have existing stock.

In a previous statement, regarding her decision to stop supplying UK booksellers as a result of her support for Palestine Action, Rooney said: "I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences."

In 2025, Haughton co-wrote a statement in support of ending arms sales to Israel and in support of Palestine Action.

He said he would donate the proceeds from his UK book sales to Rooney and "it's up to her what she does with it".

"As a children's author I cannot work while these atrocities continue," he added, in a statement.

Labour called for a ceasefire for the first time in February 2024 and the UK voted in favour of UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in March 2024.

Speaking in July ahead of his appointment as prime minister, Andy Burnham apologised for Labour's initial response to Israel's military action in Gaza, saying the party "didn't get it right".

But, when responding at Prime Minister's Questions on 21 October, he said the proscription of Palestine Action by the previous Labour government "followed a rigorous and evidence-based process that came before this house, endorsed by Parliament".

In a statement, the Home Office said: "The Court of Appeal found that Palestine Action carried out acts of terrorism, celebrated those who took part in them and promoted the use of violence."

"Support for the organisation and financial support to benefit it is against the law."

It added: "The proscription of Palestine Action does not affect lawful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, which remains a fundamental democratic right."

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