Outrage as Israeli Police Raid Beloved Palestinian Bookstores in Occupied East Jerusalem

The leading Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem was among those voicing outrage Monday in response to an Israeli police raid on a pair of renowned Palestinian-owned bookstores in illegally occupied East Jerusalem over the weekend.

Haaretzreported that after confiscating books they claimed were "inciteful," Israeli officers on Sunday arrested the owners of the two branches of the Educational Bookshop.

"The Educational Bookshop chain is the most well-known bookstore chain in East Jerusalem, with three locations on Salah al-Din Street and in the American Colony Hotel complex," the Israeli newspaper noted. "The stores specialize in Arabic and English books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the history of Jerusalem, and they are well-known to researchers, diplomats, journalists, and tourists."

Mourad Muna, the brother of Mahmoud Muna—one of the shop owners who was detained—said Israeli police "used Google Translate" to determine which books to seize. Among the books confiscated was one titled, "From the River to the Sea: A Colouring Book."

"They even found a Haaretz newspaper with a picture of the hostages and asked what it was, saying it was incitement," said Mourad Muna. "They took every book with a Palestinian flag on it."

The owners were arrested on suspicion of "violating public order."

B'Tselem said in response to the raid that "Israel is continuing its war on the entire Palestinian people."

"The attempt to crush the Palestinian people includes harassment and arrest of intellectuals," the group said. "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."

In the wake of the raid and arrests of the Educational Bookshop owners, Haaretz reported that "protesters gathered outside the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court" in a show of opposition ahead of a hearing on the detention of Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna.

"Diplomatic representatives from the Netherlands, the U.K., Belgium, Brazil, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, and the E.U. all visited the courthouse in Jerusalem where the hearing is due to take place, to show support for the bookshop owners," the Israeli newspaper added.