This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/10/israeli-police-raid-jerusalem-bookshops-and-arrest-palestinian-owners
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Israeli police raid Jerusalem bookshops and arrest Palestinian owners | Israeli police raid Jerusalem bookshops and arrest Palestinian owners |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Raid on Educational Bookstore branches described by rights groups as part of harassment campaign against Palestinian intellectuals | Raid on Educational Bookstore branches described by rights groups as part of harassment campaign against Palestinian intellectuals |
| Israeli police raided the leading Palestinian-owned bookshop in Jerusalem and arrested two of its owners, citing a children’s colouring book as evidence of incitement to terrorism after using Google translate to examine their stock. | |
| Rights groups and prominent intellectuals called for the men’s immediate release, describing the arrests on Sunday as part of a broader campaign of harassment of Palestinian intellectuals. | |
| Mahmoud Muna, 41, and his nephew Ahmed Muna, 33, were held overnight on Sunday on charges of “violating public order”, and on Monday a magistrate ordered another night’s detention and five days of house arrest. | |
| The shop has been at the heart of cultural life in Jerusalem for over four decades, popular with residents, diplomats and tourists for its broad collection of books and a cafe that hosts regular literary events. | |
| Diplomats from nine countries, including the UK, Brazil and Switzerland, attended the hearing. | |
| Protestors gathered outside the courthouse to support the men, including Pulitzer prize winning author Nathan Thrall, who launched his award wining book ‘A Day in the Life of Abed Salama’ at the Educational bookstore. | |
| “They are creating a climate of fear for Palestinians in East Jerusalem,” he said. The historical precedents of banning and burning books, and the high profil of the meant the raid on the shop would | |
| who were wearing prison uniforms at the hearing and looked tired. Mahmoud was arrested in front of his 11 year-old daughter, after police ransacked the shop, sweeping books onto the floor. | |
| “This is of course going to get a lot of attention given the history of book banning and book burning,” he said. “But you can argue precisely to go after someone who seems untouchable, who has all kinds of connections in the diplomatic community and on the Israeli left will send an even stronger message.” | |
| Police told the hearing they had confiscated eight books from the shop, and had requested eight more days of detention to read them and continue their investigation. | |
| were held overnight on charges of “violating public order” after the Educational Bookstore shops were ransacked. Images on social media showed piles of books swept on to the floor, and a selection of others that had been confiscated. | |
| Rights groups and prominent intellectuals called for the men’s immediate release, describing the arrests on Sunday as part of a broader campaign of harassment of Palestinian intellectuals. | |
| “They are creating a climate of fear for Palestinians in East Jerusalem,” said Pulitzer prize winning author Nathan Thrall, who joined a protest outside the magistrates’ court. A friend of the Muna family, he launched his award wining book ‘A Day in the Life of Abed Salama’ at the Educational bookstore. | |
| “This is of course going to get a lot of attention given the history of book banning and book burning,” he said. “But you can argue precisely to go after someone who seems untouchable, who has all kinds of connections in the diplomatic community and on the Israeli left will send an even stronger message.” | |
| Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed Muna were held overnight on charges of “violating public order” after the Educational Bookstore shops were ransacked. Images on social media showed piles of books swept on to the floor, and a selection of others that had been confiscated. | Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed Muna were held overnight on charges of “violating public order” after the Educational Bookstore shops were ransacked. Images on social media showed piles of books swept on to the floor, and a selection of others that had been confiscated. |
| They were due to appear in court in Jerusalem on Monday morning. A crowd of demonstrators gathered outside in support. “No to censorship, No to book bans,” read one placard. | They were due to appear in court in Jerusalem on Monday morning. A crowd of demonstrators gathered outside in support. “No to censorship, No to book bans,” read one placard. |
| “They took every book that had the Palestinian flag on it,” one of the men’s brothers told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He shared an image of books that had been seized by police and later returned. | “They took every book that had the Palestinian flag on it,” one of the men’s brothers told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He shared an image of books that had been seized by police and later returned. |
| They included the artist Banksy’s Wall and Piece and Gaza in Crisis by the US academic Noam Chomsky and the Israeli scholar Ilan Pappé, and Love Wins by the Canadian film-maker and photographer Afzal Huda. | They included the artist Banksy’s Wall and Piece and Gaza in Crisis by the US academic Noam Chomsky and the Israeli scholar Ilan Pappé, and Love Wins by the Canadian film-maker and photographer Afzal Huda. |
| Police also examined an English-language copy of Haaretz, with images of returned hostages, and told the owners it constituted incitement, the owner’s brother said. | Police also examined an English-language copy of Haaretz, with images of returned hostages, and told the owners it constituted incitement, the owner’s brother said. |
| All prosecutions relating to freedom of speech have to be approved by the attorney general’s office, but police can carry out arrests on suspicion of violations of public order on their own authority. | All prosecutions relating to freedom of speech have to be approved by the attorney general’s office, but police can carry out arrests on suspicion of violations of public order on their own authority. |
| The Educational Bookstore is an East Jerusalem establishment with three branches, two on Salah al-Din Street, the main shopping road in East Jerusalem, which were raided on Sunday. | The Educational Bookstore is an East Jerusalem establishment with three branches, two on Salah al-Din Street, the main shopping road in East Jerusalem, which were raided on Sunday. |
| The third is in the American Colony, a Jerusalem hotel popular for decades with visiting leaders and celebrities from Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair to Bob Dylan, Uma Thurman and Giorgio Armani. | The third is in the American Colony, a Jerusalem hotel popular for decades with visiting leaders and celebrities from Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair to Bob Dylan, Uma Thurman and Giorgio Armani. |
| Rights group B’Tselem called for the immediate release of the two men, and an end to the persecution of Palestinian intellectuals. | Rights group B’Tselem called for the immediate release of the two men, and an end to the persecution of Palestinian intellectuals. |
| “The attempt to crush the Palestinian people includes the harassment and arrest of intellectuals,” the group said in a statement. | “The attempt to crush the Palestinian people includes the harassment and arrest of intellectuals,” the group said in a statement. |
| “Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna, well-known figures in the Jerusalem cultural scene, run the Educational Bookshop – a meeting point for cultural and political discussion. Israel must immediately release them from detention and stop persecuting Palestinian intellectuals.” | “Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna, well-known figures in the Jerusalem cultural scene, run the Educational Bookshop – a meeting point for cultural and political discussion. Israel must immediately release them from detention and stop persecuting Palestinian intellectuals.” |
| Last year police arrested and interrogated Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a leading Palestinian legal scholar based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There have also been widespread detentions of Palestinian citizens of Israel who publicly criticised the war in Gaza. | Last year police arrested and interrogated Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a leading Palestinian legal scholar based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There have also been widespread detentions of Palestinian citizens of Israel who publicly criticised the war in Gaza. |