Israeli police raid Palestinian bookstores in east Jerusalem, drawing international concern
The Educational Bookshop is popular among journalists and diplomats
The Educational Bookshop on Salah Ad-din Street in East Jerusalem, as captured in November 2011. (Google Maps)
(JTA) — Israeli police raided two branches of a landmark bookstore in east Jerusalem on Sunday night, confiscating several dozen books and detaining two of the owners overnight.
According to Imad Muna, one of the Educational Bookshop’s proprietors, officers claimed the raid targeted material that incites violence, though he dismissed the allegations as baseless.
According to Haaretz, police later revised the allegations, downgrading the charge from incitement to suspicion of disturbing public order and arresting Muna’s brother and son, Mahmoud and Ahmad. The two attended a hearing at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning and police have requested an eight-day extension of their custody.
“It’s a disgrace,” Muna said. “Look where we’ve got to.”
The raid took place at two of the family-run bookstore’s branches on Salah al-Din Street. The stores are internationally known for their selection of Palestinian literature and political works, mainly in English. A third branch by the American Colony Hotel has long served as a hub for diplomats and journalists.
Muna, speaking to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from the United States during a visit, remarked that if he had been at home, he would have been arrested instead of his son and brother.
Police combed through the store’s inventory and confiscated more than 100 books, including books with “nothing more than [a] Palestinian flag,” he said, adding that officers also used Google translate to identify titles and passages within the books.
“They didn’t speak any Arabic,” he said. “They googled images and whatever they didn’t like, they took.”
Israel Police in a statement said that they were pursuing “crimes intended to harm Israeli citizens,” and that officers had “uncovered several books with inciting material that contain nationalistic Palestinian themes.” They cited a children’s coloring book titled “From the River to the Sea” as an example.
All but 10 of the books were returned to Muna’s brother, Iyad.
Particularly since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israeli authorities have taken an aggressive posture around what they consider “incitement,” a broad category that has ensnared social media posts as well as protest activity. Israeli police arrested thousands for incitement in the war’s early months, and a Palestinian-American woman in the West Bank was arrested for incitement last week.
In raiding the Educational Bookshop, police targeted a high-profiled location known to visitors from across the globe. It is a common stop on the itineraries of American Jewish groups visiting east Jerusalem, and sells coffee along with its stacks of literature.
“As the People of the Book, we understand more than most the dangers of silencing voices and restricting access to knowledge. The scenes from today’s raid are evocative of darker times in our own history,” Yona Shem-Tov, CEO of the nonprofit Encounter, which has brought groups to the store, said in a statement. “We must stand up for the Munas, and for the continued free exchange of ideas now more than ever.”
Similar operations in the past have cited concerns over the dissemination of inciting materials. Last week, police arrested another bookstore owner from east Jerusalem for selling books that incite terrorism — including works by senior Hamas figures Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last year by Israel, and Abdullah Barghouti, who is in Israeli prison — as well as books about the Islamic State and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The police also imposed a 30-day closure on that bookstore.
Diplomatic representatives from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden and the EU came to the courthouse in Jerusalem on Monday to express solidarity with the bookstore owners ahead of the hearing.
Muna, who has run his store since the 1980s, insisted that the books in his collection were neither illegal nor inciting, and said he did not stock books by or about Nasrallah or Sinwar.
“Everything we sell is available through major distributors in the U.K., U.S. and Europe,” he said.
Attorney Nasser Odeh, representing the bookstore owners, said that the charge against them was switched from incitement to disturbing public order after police realized they couldn’t secure prosecution approval for incitement.
“I have never encountered a case where someone is held in custody overnight for suspicion of disturbing public order,” Haaretz cited Odeh as saying.
Jewish peace and coexistence activists decried the raid and its implications for Israeli society.
Karen Brunwasser, co-CEO of Feelbeit, an organization that promotes dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians through arts and culture, said she has known the two detainees for over a decade.
“They are very strong in their Palestinian identity, and at the same time, always engage deeply, honestly, and in good faith with Israelis and Jews from all over the world,” said Brunwasser, a Philadelphia native who moved to Israel in 2005. “This has sent a chill down the spine for a lot of Jerusalemites who have respect for them on both sides of the city.”
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