Latest news with #EducationalBookshop
Arab News
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Israeli authorities raid East Jerusalem bookstore for second time in a month, arrest owner
LONDON: Israeli police have raided a prominent Palestinian bookstore in East Jerusalem for the second time in a month, seizing dozens of books and arresting one of the owners. Local reports said 61-year-old co-owner Imad Muna was detained for several hours after Israeli officers arrived at the Educational Bookshop on Tuesday morning without a warrant. During the raid, they confiscated about 50 books after searching the stock using Google Translate. 'At 11:15 a.m., the police arrived at the store, and my parents were there at the time,' Muna's son, Ahmad, said. 'The police asked for the business licenses and reviewed the account books. I arrived, but they wouldn't let me in. They went through the books, stacked a pile of books that they took.' In February, police arrested Ahmad and Muna's brother, Mahmoud, holding them for several days without the State Attorney's office approval to launch an investigation. They were later placed under house arrest for five days but have not been charged. During the first raid, police cited a children's coloring book as evidence of incitement to terrorism. Similar to the latest incident, authorities confiscated books based on titles, appearance, and authors, including works by British artist Banksy, Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, and US academic Noam Chomsky. Books containing visual elements associated with Palestine were also seized. 'They chose books by the cover, taking books that had a Palestinian flag, or just the word Palestine in the title,' another one of Muna's brothers, Morad, said. 'They were using Google Translate and took photos to send to their bosses.' Police said the second raid followed a complaint from a man who visited the bookstore earlier that day, claiming to have seen books containing inciting content. Officers detained Muna 'to verify his identity and details of the store,' police said, adding that they are reviewing three books seized during the operation. 'Based on the findings, a determination will be made on whether to refer the matter to the State Attorney's office for further investigation into the suspected sale of inciting materials,' the statement said. After Muna was released on Tuesday afternoon, most of the books were returned and the shop reopened. However, the bookstore's owners said the raids are part of an escalating effort by Israeli authorities to suppress Palestinian culture and should not be seen as isolated incidents. Rights groups and intellectuals condemned the first raid as an attempt to create a 'culture of fear' among Palestinians and an attack on freedom of expression.
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem twice in a month
Israeli police have raided the leading Palestinian bookshop in East Jerusalem for the second time in a month, detaining one of its owners for several hours and seizing some of its stock. The deputy state attorney's office had warned police that they overstepped their authority with the first raid on the shop in February. Officers again arrived at the Educational Bookshop without a warrant on Tuesday morning, staff said. They searched stock using Google Translate, confiscated about 50 books and arrested one of the owners, 61-year-old Imad Muna, his brother Morad Muna told the Guardian. 'They chose books by the cover, taking books that had a Palestinian flag, or just the word Palestine in the title,' Muna said. 'They were using Google Translate and took photos to send to their bosses.' The confiscated books included titles on the work of British artist Banksy, and others by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé and the US academic Noam Chomsky. After taking them, the police locked the shop and left with the key, taking Imad Muna to a nearby police station before releasing him without charge in the afternoon. In February, Imad's son Ahmed Muna, 33, and another brother, Mahmoud Muna, 41, were detained for two days, then held under house arrest for five days, but have not been charged. Police cited a children's colouring book as evidence of incitement to terrorism in the shop. Rights groups and leading authors, intellectuals and diplomats warned at the time that targeting the shop appeared designed to create a 'culture of fear' among Palestinians. All prosecutions relating to freedom of speech have to be approved by the attorney general's office. However, police had not sought permission to open an investigation, search the Educational Bookstore or detain its staff. After the February arrests, prosecutors met police officers to ensure 'such incidents don't happen again', the office of the deputy state attorney said in a letter to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel about the case. Police said they made the second raid after getting a complaint from a man who visited the bookstore on Tuesday morning. The man 'stated that he had observed books containing inciting content', a police spokesperson said in a statement. Officers detained Imad Muna 'to verify his identity and details of the store', the statement said, and are now reviewing three books seized at the store. 'Based on the findings, a determination will be made on whether to refer the matter to the state attorney's office for further investigation into the suspected sale of inciting materials,' the statement said. After Muna was freed on Tuesday afternoon, most books were returned and the shop reopened. The family-owned Educational Bookshop has been at the heart of cultural life in Jerusalem for more than four decades. Its broad collection of books by Palestinian, Israeli and international authors is popular with residents and tourists, and its cafe hosts regular literary events, including recently the launch of the Pulitzer prize-winning nonfiction book A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
Middle East Eye
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli forces again storm prominent Palestinian bookshop in Jerusalem
Israeli forces stormed the Educational Bookshop near the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday. Local reports said they detained Imad Muna, the Palestinian owner of the library situated in Salahuddin Street, close to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and took him for questioning. Nasser Awda, a lawyer representing Muna, told the Arab48 news outlet that Israeli forces caused significant damage to the library's contents, seized several books, took the premises' keys and shut the place down without any judicial order or legal justification. 'They also removed people who had gathered in front of the library after the raid," he said. This assault comes a month after the Israeli police's previous storming of two of the three branches of the Educational Bookshop, on 10 February. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters During that raid, two of the shops' owners, Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed, were arrested on charges of "selling inciting books" The court released them the following day, though the prosecution requested an extension of their detention for eight more days. At the time, the raid was condemned by the Palestinian National Library as a 'dangerous escalation targeting the Palestinian cultural and intellectual landscape'. Israel raids beloved Palestinian bookstores and detains owners Read More » The Educational Bookshop has been a significant cultural centre for almost 40 years, catering to diplomats, journalists, tourists and researchers alike. In 2011, it was recognised as the best library in Palestine. The Palestinian National Library said in February that the assault on the bookshop was 'part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying the Palestinian cultural and educational infrastructure in Jerusalem,' according to official news agency Wafa. The statement also highlighted that the Israeli aim was to enforce censorship on Palestinian intellectual output by criminalising the possession of books that represent Palestinian national identity, including children's books and historical references. 'It is an assault on the Palestinian right to knowledge and education,' said the statement. Several foreign governments also condemend the raid and arrests. The European Union delegation "expressed deep concern at the Israeli police raid [...] and the arrests" in a statement on X, while the French consulate in Jerusalem denounced "a blatant attack [...] against basic democratic values".
Egypt Independent
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Israel's pivot to the right brings unprecedented crackdown on freedom of speech
Jerusalem CNN — Mahmoud Muna looked on in disbelief as plain-clothes Israeli police officers rifled the shelves in his decades-old bookstore in occupied East Jerusalem. The officers were looking for books they deemed 'inciteful,' and in the process detained him and his nephew, Ahmad, for 48 hours. The February raid on two branches of the Educational Bookshop – a well-known bookstore popular among Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners – was a widening of what critics describe as a crackdown on free speech in Israel that has intensified since Hamas' October 7 attack. Witnesses to the raid said police were looking for any book containing the word 'Palestine,' a Palestinian flag, its colors, or any symbol of Palestinian national or political identity. Israel's police said at the time that they conducted the raid because the stores were 'suspected of selling books containing incitement and support for terrorism.' 'You could be… running one of the most international bookshops of the city, and within the 30 minutes, you are in a dungeon underground in a detention center, and everyone is shoving and kicking you, and you have very little rights whatsoever,' Muna, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, told CNN from his home, where he was under house arrest at the time. Mahmoud Muna (left) and his nephew, Ahmed, being escorted by Israeli security at a Jerusalem courthouse last month. Kareem Khadder/CNN Muna spent two days in custody and was under house arrest for five days, after which he was not allowed to be in his bookshop for another two weeks. The charges against him were downgraded from incitement to 'disrupting public order,' he says. The raid has alarmed not only Israeli activists but also Israelis in general. Critics warn it sets a dangerous precedent in a country whose prime minister calls it the 'only democracy in the Middle East.' They argue that voices critical of Israel's war in Gaza – and the staggering death toll it has caused – are increasingly being silenced through intimidation and legal action. 'What happened in the bookstore… should be a red light, a very strong red light for all of us,' said Gideon Levy, a veteran Israeli journalist who was once a prominent voice in Israel's left but has become increasingly marginalized in the national discourse. He is often seen on international news channels but now says he is no longer invited to give interviews on Israeli television. 'In Israel, there is a government which is using anti-democratic means, not to say fascist means, against freedom of thought, freedom of speech, any kind of freedom. And they do it with pride,' he told CNN. David Mencer, a spokesman at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, has said that 'any measures which are taken are always taken within the framework of Israeli law, with all the appropriate checks and balances from our democracy.' 'We will maintain freedom of speech under the rule of law,' Mencer said in a press briefing in response to CNN's question. 'Systematic political persecution' Critics however say Israeli authorities' attempt to police speech have expanded in scope since October 7. Leftist politician Ofer Cassif is the only Jewish lawmaker in the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta'al party in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Lawmakers tried but failed to expel him from parliament last year after he signed a petition of support for South Africa's genocide case against Israel for its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 48,000 people, according to the health ministry there. Israel vehemently denies charges of genocide. In November, the parliamentary ethics committee suspended Cassif from the Knesset for six months, allowing him to enter the chamber only to cast votes. 'There is an ongoing, profound, systematic political persecution of anyone who raises an alternative voice to the government, of anyone who raises a voice,' he said. 'And the stronger it is, the stronger is the persecution.' Still, Cassif maintains that there are 'thousands and thousands' of 'democratic Jews like myself' in the country, but says they are being increasingly marginalized. Levy's newspaper, Haaretz, has also been targeted. In November, the Israeli cabinet unanimously voted to ban the government from interacting with the paper, citing its critical coverage of the war in Gaza and comments by its publisher calling for sanctions on senior government officials. Protesters holding signs in front of a courthouse after the Educational Bookshop was raided by Israeli police and its owners arrested. Kareem Khadder/CNN The paper described the government's move as an attempt to 'silence a critical, independent newspaper.' Levy says the events of October 7 were so devastating for the nation that they pushed more Jewish Israelis toward the right – with suspicion of Palestinians and Arab Israelis growing ever deeper. Some among Israel's Jewish intellectuals, he says, had 'lost some of their humanity' since the attacks, referring to a lack of sympathy for Gazans' suffering in the war. 'Some will tell you that after the 7th of October, we have the right to do whatever we want,' Levy said. 'That's the mindset of Israel today.' The perceived crackdown on freedom of speech has sent shockwaves through the Arab-Israeli community and the shrinking group of Jewish Israeli intellectuals who are still speaking out for Palestinian rights. In October, Israeli police barred a theater in Jaffa from screening a film about Israel's takeover of the Palestinian town of Lyd during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, citing a lack of permit, according to Israeli media. The literary and free expression advocacy group PEN America urged a reversal of the ban, describing it as 'the latest in an ongoing effort by the Israeli government to suppress Palestinian voices.' In August, police barred another film, 'Jenin, Jenin 2,' from being shown in Jaffa, saying it amounted to incitement, according to Channel 12 The movie is a sequel to the 2002 film, 'Jenin Jenin,' which is banned. In 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the ban and ordered the director to pay a fine to a military officer for defamation. CNN has reached out to the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport for comment on restrictions on film screenings. Mencer says that while Israel upholds the freedom to criticize the government, it won't tolerate incitement. 'In Israel, there is a distinction between criticism and incitement. Criticism of the government will never be silenced.' A protester holding a sign in front of a courthouse after the Educational Bookshop was raided in February. Kareem Khadder/CNN 'There will always be national security concerns, of course, as there are in all countries, especially at a time of war… Israel will always ensure that speech does not incite violence or support terrorist organizations,' he said. Levy says he no longer takes for granted that he will be able to continue to write with freedom to criticize the country's policies 'because this government has an agenda, and this agenda is to try as much as they can to shut mouths and to close any criticism.' David Issacharoff, also a Haaretz journalist, says his newspaper being targeted by 'the most far-right government in Israel's history' is a 'badge of honor,' as it shows 'we might be probably doing the right thing.' If writers remain silent or leave the country, 'they win,' he says, referring to radicals on the Israeli right. He is even more determined to continue writing in the face of the sanctions, saying it is important to show the world that 'there is a different side to Israel than people would think. People who are against war crimes, people who are for human rights, people who want peace.' But he warns that the crackdown on free speech may be reaching a point of no return. 'A Rubicon is being crossed at the moment,' he said, 'with the raid on the bookstore and more broadly, the pressures that are being put on you, the pressures that are being put on other broadcasters, the pressures that are being put on cultural events, on movies, on theaters and things like that.' 'We are way past a place where we could say that Israel is a democratic state,' he said. For Cassif, the lawmaker, it's already too late for freedom of speech in Israel. 'It's not even at stake anymore. It doesn't exist,' he said. Muna, the bookshop owner, worries what the restrictions will mean for coming generations. 'You are creating a whole generation that their ability to think will not be beyond that framework that has been set by the government,' he said. 'This is very dangerous, very, very dangerous.'
