Motion to Derry City and Strabane District Council below.
People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
"We salute Sally Rooney for taking a resolute stand against Israel's genocidal war on Palestine.
Rooney’s stand in solidarity with Palestine Action has exposed the pro-Israel hypocrisy of the British government and its continued attempt to criminalise opposition to genocide.
Palestine Action members acted to prevent Israel's mass murder of Palestinian children and destruction of Palestinian society. They should be commended for their courage and selflessness, not jailed.
Israel's murderous political and military state regime, and powerful governments, military brass and corporations complicit with it, should be facing criminal sanction, not Palestine Action or the brilliant Sally Rooney.
We need to take a stand against what's happening to Rooney. Our motion calls on the Council to stand in solidarity with Sally Rooney against the British government and oppose her criminalisation.
Burnham claims he's not Starmer. If that's the case, why is this happening to Rooney?
This is about Palestine solidarity but it is also about much broader repression of artists and expression. It's a clear example of rising government authoritarianism that must be resisted.
We hope this motion wins support in Derry and Strabane Council and would like to see similar motions of support for Rooney put forward in trade unions and in Council’s across Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, and also in Stormont and the Dáil.
It's time for the British state to end its support for Israel and for charges against Palestine solidarity campaigners to be dropped.
No one is free while Palestinians are denied freedom."
People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin's motion to Derry City and Strabane District Council meeting on Wednesday 28th October:
"Council notes with alarm the recent announcement that acclaimed Irish writer Sally Rooney’s novels will no longer be sold across Britain and the North of Ireland.
In a statement, Rooney said further publication of her work could constitute a 'serious criminal offence', so she had agreed with her publisher Faber not to continue supplying her books to UK retailers.
Not only is this an attack on the Palestine Solidarity movement, given Sally Rooney’s stated support for Palestine Action, this is also an attack on the basic elements of freedom of speech that writers can no longer be published across Britain and the North of Ireland.
Council notes that this ban due to support for Palestine Action goes against the agreed position of Derry & Strabane District Council calling for the end of the criminalisation of Palestine Action and charges to be dropped.
Council supports freedom of expression and the right of writers to express their views without fear of criminalisation or banning of their artistic works.
Council reaffirms its position that the criminalisation of Palestine Action must end.
Council will write to Sally Rooney, expressing our solidarity with her in the face of political repression and invites her to engage with Council on how to challenge criminalisation resulting from Palestine solidarity.
Council will write to the British Government stating our solidarity with Sally Rooney, condemning its attacks on freedom of speech, and restating our demand for the rescinding of the ban on Palestine Action and criminalisation of the Palestine solidarity movement."
Motion will be put to a vote at Derry and Strabane District Council Wednesday 28 October 2026