The Guardian and Al Jazeera report that Andreas Malm has been barred from entering the United Kingdom on the grounds that his presence there would not be conducive to the public good. He was en route to participate in a conference alongside a co-founder of Palestine Action, a direct-action group that Britain had designated a terrorist organization the previous year.
Renowned for his book How To Blow Up A Pipeline, Malm has long been recognized as a leading voice on climate issues. He is also a prominent Marxist thinker and has been vocal in his solidarity with Palestine and in his condemnation of Israel’s actions described as genocide. Malm was scheduled to speak at the launch event for the Historical Materialism Conference organized by Tribune magazine, sharing the platform with Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action.
But before he could depart for London, the UK Home Office informed Malm that his Electronic Travel Authorisation had been cancelled. He responded that he is “deeply dismayed at this sudden ban on travelling to the UK,” noting that he has visited the country “for decades” for research, lectures, and conferences.
“I have always considered the UK a centre of the world of ideas,” he said, “where differences in opinions and scientific approaches can be aired freely.” He urged that the decision be reversed. The event is still planned to proceed, with Malm appearing via video.
A number of prominent publications and fellow writers have come to his defense, Tribune itself among them. “The government seems to think that it by banning its critics from the country it can reduce people’s exposure to their ideas,” the magazine’s editors wrote. “But the government is wrong. Those ideas will continue to circulate. We will make sure of that.”
Tariq Ali of Verso, the publisher that has released many of Malm’s books, issued a statement asserting that the publisher “condemns the silencing of critical voices and stands in support of writers and scholars who continue to speak out about important issues and contribute to open intellectual discourse.”
And Sally Rooney, who is barred from selling her books in the UK because of her solidarity with Palestine and Palestine Action, called the UK’s action “not only an outrageous attack on a respected climate expert, but a sad and frightening act of cultural self-harm.”
[Image via]
