{"id":12511,"date":"2026-10-30T07:02:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12511"},"modified":"2026-10-30T07:02:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T07:02:04","slug":"uk-denies-entry-to-swedish-academic-due-to-speak-at-palestine-event-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12511","title":{"rendered":"UK denies entry to Swedish academic due to speak at Palestine event | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 8 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n

London, United Kingdom \u2013<\/strong> A pro-Palestine academic who was planning to travel to the United Kingdom has been denied entry because the government says his \u201cpresence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK Home Office cancelled Swedish national Andreas Malm\u2019s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on Wednesday, an email seen by Al Jazeera shows.<\/p>\n

\n

Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

The decision came a week before Malm was due to appear on a panel organised by the British socialist magazine Tribune in London. Huda Ammori, cofounder of Palestine Action<\/a> \u2013 which the UK has proscribed<\/a> as a \u201cterrorist\u201d group \u2013 is also due to appear on the panel, which will be chaired by Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive.<\/p>\n

Malm told Al Jazeera that he believes his ETA was cancelled because he was due to appear on the panel. He has contacted the Home Office for an explanation but is yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been going regularly to the UK for decades. My position on Palestine has always been public,\u201d Malm said, adding that his latest visit to the country was in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t said anything in public about Palestine during these intervening months or written anything about it. The only thing that could have caused this [latest UK decision] is that I was due to be on a panel on Wednesday evening, where I would talk to Huda Ammori of Palestine Action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Malm told Al Jazeera that he used an ETA to visit the UK in May, which allowed him to travel to the country again later in the year without seeking reauthorisation. He said he had received no indication from the Home Office that his ETA was at risk of being cancelled before receiving an email on Wednesday confirming that it had been revoked.<\/p>\n

In its email, the Home Office told Malm that if he wishes to visit the UK, he needs to apply for a visa, after which the office will \u201cconsider your circumstances in more detail\u201d before making a decision. However, the government website states that the processing time for a standard visitor visa is three weeks, meaning Malm would not receive it in time for next week\u2019s panel even if his application were approved.<\/p>\n

Travellers from countries whose nationals do not require a visa to visit the UK generally need an ETA. These include countries in Europe, the United States and Canada, among others.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera contacted the Home Office to ask for clarification on the cancellation of Malm\u2019s ETA and whether it was connected to the event he planned to attend next week. They had not replied at the time of publication.<\/p>\n

The cancellation of Malm\u2019s ETA comes amid a wider crackdown on pro-Palestine activists by the UK government, something that began under then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, was prime minister when the government proscribed Palestine Action last year.<\/p>\n

The move classified the campaign group as a \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation under UK law, placing it on the same legal list as groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The proscription has been condemned by rights groups, including Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Irish novelist Sally Rooney\u2019s books<\/a> were withdrawn from sale in the UK this month due to her public support for Palestine Action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this is about is constantly diminishing the room for [the] exchange of opinion and ideas and painting people with a brush of illegitimacy, that you\u2019re beyond the pale, you\u2019re not allowed to say what to think,\u201d Malm told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a drift towards authoritarianism that didn\u2019t begin with me and it\u2019s not going to end with me either. This is just one more small step in a long slide into the abyss of authoritarianism that we have in the UK and other countries, too. If I\u2019m now being deemed a threat to the public good because I\u2019m supposed to have a conversation with someone from Palestine Action, this is guilt by association. Where does it stop?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gareth Dale, reader in political economy at Brunel University of London, told Al Jazeera that the Home Office\u2019s decision suggests the UK government intends to continue suppressing free speech under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndreas Malm is one of the world\u2019s foremost campaigners on the two defining issues of our times \u2013 climate breakdown and the genocide in Palestine. Barring him from entry to the UK represents a monstrous attempt by the Burnham government to suppress free speech,\u201d Dale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypical of bureaucratic tyranny, no reason was given for the ban; it is cynical and Kafkaesque. As Malm has committed no crime, we are left guessing as to the motives. Burnham cultivated the impression that his government would be turning a new leaf, but instead it is replicating Starmer-era authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London, United Kingdom \u2013 A pro-Palestine academic who was planning to travel to the United Kingdom has been denied entry because the government says his \u201cpresence in the UK is not considered to be conducive to the public good\u201d. The UK Home Office cancelled Swedish national Andreas Malm\u2019s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on Wednesday, an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t