Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in Jerusalem

Israeli police raided a long-established Palestinian family-run bookstore in east Jerusalem on Sunday, detaining the owners and confiscating hundreds of books that ‘incited violence’, reported AP.

The Educational Bookshop owners Mahmoud Muna and nephew Ahmad Muna have been charged with disrupting public order and selling books inciting terrorism. May Muna, Mahmoud’s wife, told the publication that police have also ordered the store’s closure.

“Soldiers picked out books with Palestinian titles or flags, without knowing what any of them meant,” added May.

CCTV footage shared by CNN shows Israeli officers collecting books in black bin bags and removing them from the store. Among the disputed titles that purportedly incited violence was a children’s colouring book bearing the historic slogan for Palestinian liberation ‘From the river to the sea’.

The arrests have sparked an outcry from the UN and foreign diplomats. Meanwhile, on Monday, local protesters supporting the owners gathered outside the bookshop, calling for their release and accusing Israeli authorities of censorship.

“We were surprised by the arrest itself. I think it’s a political arrest,” said Murad Muna, a relative of the owners, in a video circulated by DW. Expanding on the cultural and educational importance of a bookstore, Muna added, “We’ve been doing our work since 1984. We support knowledge, we support open discussion.”

Protestors had also gathered outside the municipal courthouse, many of whom were Jewish. “As a Jewish person, of course I protest locking up booksellers,” said one woman part of the protesting crowd. “Of course I don’t support that.”

The same video also showed Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nathan Thrall voicing his dissent over the arrests. “It is an objective of the state of Israel to ensure no Palestinian state can arise with East Jerusalem as its capital. There is a concerted effort to crush all cultural life in East Jerusalem,” he said.

Commenters wherever the video of the raid was shared have also registered their dismay.

“Why can’t people read what they want? This is just harassment. Haven’t those people been harassed long enough?” expressed one viewer. In a similar vein, another added, “Why can’t the UN send an army to stop these crimes against humanity?

The three-storey Educational Bookshop was established over 40 years ago. Prior to its closure, it housed a large selection of books, mainly in Arabic and English, about the conflict in the region and the wider Middle East. Many of those books are by Israeli and Jewish authors. In line with the owners’ commitment to spreading knowledge, the bookshop also hosted cultural events and is especially popular among researchers, journalists and foreign diplomats.