UK cancels Swedish academic Andreas Malm's travel permit before Palestine panel
Malm, due to speak at a Tribune event in London alongside a Palestine Action cofounder, was told his presence was "not considered to be conducive to the public good".
At a glance
- The UK Home Office cancelled Swedish academic Andreas Malm's Electronic Travel Authorisation on Wednesday.
- Malm was due to speak on a Tribune-organised London panel with Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori.
- The Home Office said Malm's presence was 'not considered to be conducive to the public good' and told him to apply for a visa.
The UK Home Office cancelled the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) of Swedish academic Andreas Malm on Wednesday, a week before he was due to speak on a London panel about Palestine, according to an email seen by Al Jazeera.
The Home Office told Malm that his "presence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good", Al Jazeera reported. The email said he would have to apply for a visa if he wanted to visit, after which officials would "consider your circumstances in more detail". Standard visitor visas take about three weeks to process, meaning Malm would not receive one in time for the panel even if his application were approved.
Malm, a Swedish national, was due to join a panel organised by the British socialist magazine Tribune. Huda Ammori, cofounder of Palestine Action — which the UK has proscribed as a "terrorist" group — was also due to appear, with Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive chairing the event.
Malm says the panel is the likely reason
Malm told Al Jazeera he believed his ETA was cancelled because he was due to appear on the panel. He said he had travelled to the UK regularly for decades, that his position on Palestine had always been public, and that his most recent visit was in May.
He said he had received no indication that his authorisation was at risk before Wednesday's email. "I haven't said anything in public about Palestine during these intervening months," he said, adding that the only thing that could have caused the decision was the panel. "This is guilt by association," he said. "Where does it stop?"
Wider context
Al Jazeera reported that the cancellation comes amid a wider crackdown on pro-Palestine activists that began under then prime minister Keir Starmer. Starmer was in office when the government proscribed Palestine Action last year, placing the group on the same legal list as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). Rights groups including Amnesty International condemned the move.
Since the ban, more than 3,850 people have been arrested for publicly backing the group in largely peaceful protests, according to Al Jazeera.
Tribune editor Oliver Eagleton said Andy Burnham's government "continues the authoritarian overreach we saw under Starmer", arguing that authors and academics are now treated as terrorists for supporting Palestinians.
Irish novelist Sally Rooney, whose books were withdrawn from sale in the UK this month over her public support for Palestine Action, called Malm a "brilliant and influential" intellectual and said refusing him entry was an "outrageous attack" on a respected climate expert and an act of "cultural self-harm".
Gareth Dale, reader in political economy at Brunel University of London, told Al Jazeera the decision suggested the government intended to keep suppressing free speech, describing it as a "monstrous attempt" to do so.
Al Jazeera said it had contacted the Home Office for clarification on the cancellation and whether it was linked to the planned event, and had not received a reply at the time of publication.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Why was Andreas Malm denied entry to the UK?
- The Home Office said his presence in the UK was "not considered to be conducive to the public good" and cancelled his Electronic Travel Authorisation. It told him to apply for a visitor visa, which takes about three weeks to process.
- What was Andreas Malm due to do in London?
- He was due to appear on a panel organised by the British socialist magazine Tribune, alongside Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori, chaired by Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive. The event was scheduled a week after his ETA was cancelled.
- What is an Electronic Travel Authorisation?
- According to Al Jazeera, travellers from countries whose nationals do not need a visa to visit the UK generally need an ETA. These include countries in Europe, the United States and Canada.
