New raid on Palestinian bookshop in Jerusalem criticized
A Palestinian bookshop in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem has been raided by police again.
The owner, Imad Muna, has been arrested, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Tuesday. In February, Muna said his sons Ahmed and Mahmoud were temporarily detained in the bookshop.
Citing the family, several Israeli media outlets reported that the police did not present a court-issued search warrant during their latest raid on the Educational Bookshop. According to eyewitnesses and the Palestinian media, the police confiscated dozens of books.
As in February, there was criticism of the latest incident from Germany.
"What are the legal grounds for this new raid? And what purpose does it serve to keep detaining Palestinian booksellers who are the embodiment of peaceful dialogue?" the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, wrote on the X platform.
The head of the German representative office in Ramallah, Oliver Owcza, also expressed concern about "another police raid" in the bookstore. This had also led to "the confiscation of international literature."
After the search in February, a police spokesperson said that the booksellers were suspected of "selling books with inflammatory content and supporting terrorism."
According to Israeli media reports, the two booksellers were released after two days.
The bookshop specializes in Palestinian culture and history, as well as the Palestinian perspective on the conflict with Israel.
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