Swedish Academic Denied UK Entry Over Palestine Action Founder Panel
Home Office cites 'not conducive to public good' as academic links ban to planned event.
A Swedish climate academic, Andreas Malm, stated he has been barred from entering the United Kingdom due to his scheduled participation in a panel discussion with a co-founder of Palestine Action. Malm told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he received a letter from the Home Office indicating his presence was "not conducive to the public good," without providing further specifics.
Malm, a senior lecturer in human ecology at Lund University, believes the denial of entry is directly linked to his planned appearance with Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action. The group is designated as a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK. The Home Office has declined to comment on individual cases.
Malm's academic work includes the books "How to Blow up a Pipeline" and "The Destruction of Palestine is the Destruction of the Earth." He expressed that his exclusion represents a "severe restriction on the free exchange of ideas."
He emphasized that he is not a member of Palestine Action, has not publicly endorsed the group, nor provided any financial support. Malm suggested the Home Office's decision might be based on "guilt by association" due to his scheduled panel with Ammori, organized by the magazine Tribune.
The academic also acknowledged past remarks made in December 2023, where he described the Hamas-led attacks on Israel as "fundamentally an act of liberation." He concurrently condemned the killing of civilians during the cross-border attack. Malm suggested these statements, made public during a talk where he also condemned civilian deaths, could be a reason for the Home Office's decision. However, he noted that these views were in the public domain when he was previously allowed into the UK for a talk in May.
"I don't expect the British state to agree with me on Palestine or climate or anything," Malm stated. "What I expect the British state to do is to continue to let me enter the country and to discuss with colleagues, with people who disagree with me - as I have done for years."